Take Me Back
by Darair
Summary: The last survivor of Konoha has her inner transport her back in time to stop the destruction. She's supposed to change the past... but not too much. That might be a problem when she still has all her chakra and skills. Adopted by princessoftheshadowsofdestin y.
1. Chapter 1

**I've read many many time travel stories and, in my opinion, there are only a small amount of time travel SakuxSasu stories... which makes me sad because I've grown to love them. A lot. So long story short, I want to make a time travel fic! *Giggle***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Don't expect me to say that every chapter. I'm guessing that you already get the point.**

**~x~**

Standing rigid in front of the hokage's desk, Sakura tried to keep her eyes on her hokage other than the windows.

Konoha only has one kunoichi left... Sakura Haruno The lucky sole survivor.

"Sakura-chan," the hokage's deep voice echoed in the empty and messy tower.

"Hai?" she replied immediatly.

Now it was nearly a third nature habit to reply to her hokage right as he calls her name.

"I want you to..." he paused, a sad glint shone in his now dull blue eyes. "I want you to stay alive. No matter what... alright?"

Shocked by his words, Sakura was silent for a second before answering, "Hai... Naruto."

Even though he was the hokage, she just couldn't get herself out of the habit of calling him by his name instead of by the title that he had earned. If you gave her a picture of the 17 year old Uzumaki and asked the first word that came to her head, she would've said either, "Friend" or "Naruto". There would be a very miniscule chance of her saying, "Hokage".

Not that she wasn't proud or anything. She was _plenty_ proud. The joyous glint in his eyes on the day he faced the elders showed that he that he made it. He received a back breaking hug and was spun around several times. Then, he was treated to Ichiraku from all of his friends.

The two friends shared a passing moment, sending messages not through their silence, but through their eyes. None of them really knew how long they would be by each other's sides. Sakura smiled. Naruto smiled. Neither of the smiles held real happiness. Just understanding... understanding that they probably had a very limited time to look at the other's face. While they were still breathing, that is.

Suddenly, a blue sword rammed through the middle of the ceiling, causing both ninjas to jump back from the middle of the room.

Once Sakura got a good look at the sword, she gasped. A glance at Naruto told her that he recognized the weapon as well.

_Sasuke's sword!_

Their guesses were confirmed when the sword sent an electric current through the ceiling, effectively blasting it off.

A dark figure could be seen through the clouds.

When the clouds cleared, a familiar man stood in front of them, sending a ripple of hope through their bodies.

Sakura was speechless.

_'Maybe he came back to help us with the war!'_

**'... I'm not exactly sure it looks like he has any intention to.'**

_'Well, Sasuke has to have some good intention still left in him!'_

**'Then why didn't he just take the door or the window?'**

Inner Sakura's logic sent her spiraling back to the ninja world... where not many could be trusted as friends.

Her body unconciously switched to a jounin fighting stance.

Naruto didn't seem fazed by the malice rolling off Sasuke's body, and shouted, "Sasuke!" in an all too cheery voice.

"Are you going to help us defeat the Akatsuki?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Naruto... Sasuke is one of the Akatsuki," she reminded him.

The tension in the room rose after she had reminded him. It was so thick; you could probably cut it with a knife.

"Sakura..." Naruto was as tense as ever. "Remember the promise you made me."

Her eyes widened.

"You have to fulfill that promise by leaving the hokage tower... and Konoha."

Fist clenching, she hissed, "If you think I'm going to let you fight _alone_ wit--" but Naruto interrupted with a furious, "_Are you going back on your word?!"_

She took a step back in surprise. Naruto had _never_ used that tone of voice with her before. Their bonds were stronger than most siblings!

"Alright," she spat out.

Sakura wasn't stupid. She had common sense, and she knew that if she didn't leave right at that moment, then Naruto would most likely knock her out and have Gamabunta take her somewhere _far_ away where the sounds of fighting wouldn't even reach her ears.

With a simple, "Be careful," as a parting, Sakura disappeared with the teleportation jutsu Naruto had taught her.

~x~

Sakura had regretted teleporting right outside of Konoha. She had forgotten how many ninja were killed here... among them were some familiar faces she had been friends with since the Academy.

Right when she had teleported to the gates, she was surrounded by dead bodies of Konoha ninja and a few opposing ninja as well. After a few minutes of trying to calm her mind and remind herself that she had seen a lot worse, she decided to make a grave for all of the dead ninja.

She grabbed a random sword from the ground and winced at the sight of blood pouring off the edges like a waterfall. It was a blood bath... almost literally. Taking the sword, she slipped it in between her belt, saving it for later when she'd need something to dig up the graves.

First, she searched for any lucky survivors with her chakra... but all of them had none left. The sign that they were all dead. Then, she gently poked through the bodies to see if any of them resembled her friends; she was going to make graves for them first.

Temari was the very first one she found. Her blonde hair and large fan weren't hard to spot-- though the hair was now spotted red and the fan in tatters-- and Sakura slowly pulled her out from the pile of bodies on top of her.

Sakura flinched at the horrendous sight of her friend. She had apparently gone through very much... and to think she travelled from Suna just to be killed in Konoha. Her face was cut in many places, as well as her arms and legs. There was a large gash on her thigh and her arm was hanging by a few tendons.

With a shudder, Sakura summoned up a few Kage Bunshin and gave Temari to one of them. The bunshin teleported away to the graveyard to bury the sand nin.

The next ones came in this order: Choji, Akamaru, Shino, Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Kurenai, Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Neji, Gaara, TenTen, Yamato, Genma, Sai, Iruka, and Anko.

Tsunade, Shizune, TonTon, and the two gate guards (Izumo and Kotetsu) were the first to be killed, and were buried ahead of time.

To put it short, Choji was exploded from the inside out.

Akamaru was sliced in half.

Shino was killed by his own bugs.

Hinata was stabbed in multiple places (Sakura had held back a sob when she saw Hinata).

Kiba's limbs had been cut off and thrown in different directions.

Shikamaru had been smashed to death.

Ino was raped and then was killed by a katana thrust through her vagina (Sakura had nearly exploded at the sight of her best friend).

Kurenai's head was sliced off.

Kakashi's eyes were torn out and he had many swords sticking out of his abdomen.

Gai's head was cracked open.

_All_ of Lee's bones were broken.

And... well the rest either had limbs cut off or had been tortured to a horrible extent. Anyone who had limbs torn off, she healed them until they were whole again... she could at least do that to repay them for being her friends.

Her mind was overwhelmed with all of the images of her dead comrades. The rest of the unknown ninjas were taken by her clones to be buried.

A scream echoed through her mind once the last bunshin had disappeared.

"_Oh no..."_ she could feel her heart breaking.

Her head was on overload at the moment, so the idea of the teleportation jutsu didn't occur to her. The only thought that passed her mind while she was sprinting to the hokage's tower was, _'Naruto! Stay alive! Keep breathing!'_

When she burst into the scene, all she could see was rubble. The only thing she saw that told her she was at the hokage tower was Sasuke's katana.

Panicking, she called out, "Naruto! Where are you?! Naruto!!"

She kept calling, her voice getting more desperate each time. Scrambling on the broken pieces of concrete, she let out a wail and dropped down to her knees.

"Naruto..."

A weak voice replied, "S-Sakura-chan..."

Her head shot up and she looked for any sign of the blue eyed boy. A flash of orange and black under the large concrete piece right next to her told her that Naruto wasn't going to live for much longer.

"Naruto!" she whispered, and used her strength to lift up the concrete.

Using one hand to hold up the large tree sized block, she used her other hand to pick Naruto up onto more comfortable ground.

"S...still the strongest... e-eh, Sakura-chan?" he laughed.

The lump in her throat worsened when she heard that laugh. It was so weak and not like the loud and strong laugh she was so used to hearing.

Quickly throwing away the burden on her arm, Sakura went straight to work with healing her childhood friend.

"Don't worry Naruto! You'll live! I'll heal you! Just hold still, and don't waste your breath talking!" she reassured him, hoping that she sounded more sure than she felt.

His hand took hers, wincing as he did so.

"Don't... Sakura-chan... I'm a l-lost cause..." he murmured.

She shook her head furiously.

"Don't say that, Naruto! You'll be..." she hesitated. At the state he was in, it would take a pure miracle just for his leg to be completely healed!

He chuckled weakly.

"I'm going to miss you, Sakura-chan. When I'm gone, don't do anything reckless, like end your life to be with your friends. Live on..." his breathing became shallower as he went.

He was trying to force himself to talk evenly and without any stuttering... so that Sakura would remember him as someone who was brave and strong...

But she didn't need him to do that. She was already convinced five years ago.

Sakura grabbed his hand in a vain attempt to pull him back to life.

"Naruto! You're going to live! Talking like you're about to die is..." she stopped talking.

His eyes were closed, his mouth in a small curve of a smile. Breaths had stopped completely. Heartbeat stopped as well.

"Naruto..." she choked out.

_'Naruto!!!!!'_

Tears now had refused to come out. Tears that had been shed too many times in the past had forgotten how to fall.

Sad emerald eyes took one last look at her friend before she let his arm slip out of her hands and fall on his stomach.

A small flicker of hope bloomed in her chest.

_'Maybe I'm not entirely alone...!'_

Her head swung from side to side, looking for something.

A purple rope stuck out from the rubble a small distance away.

"Sasuke!"

Yes... he was the one who killed Naruto... the one who cause her so much pain... but he was the only one she could really turn to now.

She quickly dug through the rubble and pulled him up and out from the mess.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Wake up!" she yelled at his face.

His eyes were screwed shut and his breaths were labored.

"I-I'm already awake, i-idiot..." he coughed.

She ignored is little attempt to sound brave, and started to heal him as quickly as possible... she didn't want to lose the last member of her team.

"Stay... alive... Sasuke..." she gritted out as she poured all of her chakra into her healing to keep him alive. She could probably live without chakra... since she didn't have any major injuries that day.

A shaky arm grabbed her at the elbow, stopping her from using all of her chakra. She looked at him in shock.

"No... Sakura... It'll be no use. I-It's a waste of strength..." he whispered.

Her eyebrows furrowed together.

_'It's... happening... again...!'_

She shook her head and continued to heal him, but he pushed her arm out of the way.

"D-do you understand the meaning o-of 'no'?" he growled.

Even near death he can manage to sound menacing.

"Sasuke..." she felt her feelings burst. "I can't lose you as well!"

Her outburst startled him a bit.

"Everyone is dead! _Everyone_! ... Except for _you_..." her voice softened. "You're the only one left... the only on that I can trust..."

_'... I must be __**very**__ desperate if I'm begging __**Sasuke**__ of all people.'_

**'Well you can't help it. It's like being trapped in **_**nowhere**_** with nothing but your enemy in sight. Even if he kills you, you know it's better than really being completely and utterly alone.'**

_'Hey... weren't you supposed to be my hyper twelve year old emotions?'_

**'I mature just like you do!'**

"Sakura..." his voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "...Thank you..."

His breathing stopped. Sakura nearly stopped breathing along with him.

Sasuke was gone.

She was the last leaf shinobi left... all of her friends were dead....

**'... I know I should've mentioned this before... but...'**

_'...?'_

**'I've learned... this time traveling jutsu... and...'**

_'You __**what**__?!'_

**'You know... since I'm kind of another spirit...'**

_'You are?!'_

**'Yes. Didn't you see how I drove Ino out of our heads when she used her Mind Transfer Jutsu? Her kekkai genkai?'**

_'Yeah...?'_

**'So I'm just another spirit residing inside of your body!'**

_'So you can perform a time traveling jutsu?!'_

**'Yes. I can send you back in time to make sure that Konoha ninjas don't die out.'**

_'...! REALLY?!?!'_

**'Yep. But... I only have a tiny bit of chakra. Once I use it to take you back... I'll be gone from your head forever.'**

_'...Oh...'_

**'But saving Konoha is going to be more important than me... so here we go!'**

_'... Chotto Matte...!'_

**'Three...'**

_'Hold on!!'_

**'Two...'**

_'Matte!'_

**'One...'**

_'How much in the past are you talking about here?!'_

**'SHANNARO!'**

A bright flash of light erupted from Sakura's skin, and she let out a small shriek.

Her skin started turning into tiny pixels.

"Inner! What time period am I going to!?" she shouted out into the sky.

No response.

The pixels of her body started to fly off of her body and into the wind starting from the feet.

"Inner! HEY! INNER!"

Her arms started to piece off when another thought occurred to her.

"Am I still going to be seventeen!?"

Her shoulders were steadily disappearing.

"Am I still going to have the same amount of chakra?!"

Her neck was yearly gone.

The last shout of "INNER!!!" echoed through the desolate remains of Konoha, and her gloves were the only proof that she was there once.

~x~

**Ok... Please tell me if I should continue. xP**

**Matte- Wait**

**Chotto Matte- Wait a minute**


	2. Chapter 2

**I started typing this the minute I posted chapter one... xD**

**And I updated the minute I saw I had a review. xP**

**Just a little heads up for the people who want to read this... I'm going to update every week or so. Probably even up to as short as two days... so always be on the lookout~! 3**

**~x~**

Sakura woke up to a bright color of white.

She immediately closed her eyes from her pupils dilating too quickly.

With a grumble, she sat up... and her blanket fell off of her torso.

Taking a look around her environment, Sakura knew where she was instantly.

"M-my room!" she whispered in surprise.

A shout from downstairs startled her.

"Sakura-chan! Honey! Get ready for school! You're going to be late to the Academy!"

Tears started welling up in her eyes.

"Mom..." and then she registered what her mother had said. "Academy?!"

Everything from the day before slammed into her full force. Well... technically... it was a few years after... but what the heck.

"O-okay! I'm getting up!" she called back.

"Hurry!" her mom warned.

She looked in the mirror to see a girl with bubblegum pink hair and innocent green eyes.

"My.. hair is long..." she gasped. "I'M 12 YEARS OLD?!?!"

A knock on the door made her jump back.

"Honey... are you alright in there?" came her mom's concerned voice.

She missed that voice so much.

"Yep! Completely fine! Just psyched for the Academy! I hear that Iruka was going to announce something _big_!" she giggled-- completely fake... but as long as her mom doesn't hear it...

"Sakura! Respect your elders! Call him Iruka-_sensei_!" her mom lectured.

"Uh... sorry mom," Sakura sweat dropped.

She hadn't called him Iruka-sensei for such a long time... when she became a jounin, she had just called him plain Iruka whenever she passed him in the streets, and when she became ANBU captain, she had even gone as far to call him Iruka-teme once when he tried to play a prank on her with Izumo.

She took a deep breath, excited to see her friends alive again.. but if she overreacted, then they would think something was wrong with her.

Feeling deep inside her, Sakura was delighted to know that she still had the full amount of chakra that she did when she was 17. When she had the strange impulse to wink at the mirror, she slapped herself in the head, accidentally making herself fall backwards.

Since her arms were now short, she miscalculated when her arms would hit the ground and ended up performing a strange aero-back flip instead of a regular back flip.

_'Shoot... now I have to mentally change my range calculations... just great.'_

She landed shakily on one leg and fell onto the bed. Pushing her elbows back as a cushion, she felt a strong tug on her hair and she looked down to see her elbow was caught in her painfully long locks. Taking a kunai from her weapon holster, she sliced her hair off right above the shoulders.

"Ahhh..." she sighed. "Much better."

Then, without breakfast, she ran out the door to go the the Academy. Just then, Ino came out the door of her parents' flower shop.

"Forehead girl..." she growled when she spotted Sakura coming out the door.

At the sight of her best friend... _alive_... Sakura nearly burst into tears... since her 12 year old tear ducts were used so often they were set off almost automatically, but her 17 year old brain simply wasn't used to crying... so her eyes just turned just a tad bit misty.

"Ino-chan...!" Sakura murmured.

One of Ino's eyebrows rose.

"Since when did you call me 'Ino-chan', Forehead? I bet you're trying to soften me up to get to Sasuke-kun!" Ino glared.

Sakura just couldn't help it. She really couldn't.

"INO-CHAN!" she yelled, and tackled Ino down with a warm hug.

Shocked, Ino was frozen for a few seconds. Then she snapped back to earth and pushed Sakura off viciously.

"What are you _doing_, Forehead?!" she hissed.

Then Sakura remembered something that she didn't tell Ino back in her time.

"Ino! I... wanted to say... thank you," Sakura smiled. "For helping me when I was younger."

The really made Ino double take. Was this really the Sakura she knew?!

Sakura offered Ino a hand which she hesitantly took. Once Ino was sure that Sakura wouldn't do anything bad like push her back down, she accepted her help and stood up.

The two walked side by side for a while... and when Ino started to get suspicious again, Sakura started to compliment her.

"Ino... your eyes are so _blue_! They're such a pretty shade!"

"It's nice to know that you actually accept that I'm prettier than you," Ino was saying this to test her... to see if Sakura was going to get mad.

But she didn't.

Instead, she had gone on, "They match your hair so perfectly!"

Ino was about to make a rude quip about the other girl's hair when she looked at it and nearly screamed.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?!" she screeched.

Sakura shrugged.

"I cut it off... it was getting in my way."

"What happened to growing your hair longer to impress Sasuke-kun?!"

Sakura guffawed.

"Sasuke!? With **me**?! Ha! Like _that's_ going to happen!" and she burst into a fit of laughter again.

Ino blinked. Sakura was over Sasuke now? The one that made her break their friendship over?

Did that mean they were friends again?

Once Sakura's laughs subsided into only small giggles, she looked at Ino with a mischievous glint in her eye and asked, "So who do you like? Sasuke? _Shikamaru_?"

Ino gaped.

"WHAT?! _That_ lazy ass?! No way!"

"But you two would make such a great couple! Ino Nara!"

"EW!! NO!!!"

Yes... they were friends again.

They chatted the whole way to the Academy, their friendship connected once more.

~x~

Sakura stepped inside the Academy with Ino, eyes glittering at the sight of her friends.

She sat at her seat next to Kiba... whose dog seemed to have shrunken tenfold. Her brain just wasn't used to seeing Akamaru puppy sized anymore.

Iruka came into class, dragging Naruto behind him who was tied up with rope.

Her heart thumped erratically. Everything was telling her to go up to him and hug him.

_'He... he's ALIVE...!'_

Iruka dumped Naruto on the ground and warned, "I'm on the end of my rope, Naruto! You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that! Tomorrow, you get another chance, and you're messing up _again_!"

Naruto only turned his head the other direction stubbornly.

"Hmph!" he grunted.

Sakura nearly giggled as Iruka's vein pulsed.

"Ha!" he exclaimed. "Because _you_ missed it Naruto, everyone will redo the Henge Jutsu!"

The whole class except for 3-- Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura-- groaned in frustration.

~x~

"First up," Iruka announced. "Sakura Haruno."

She nodded.

"Hai."

Putting her hands up into the appropriate sign, Sakura asked, "Are we allowed to transform into _anything_?"

Iruka nodded.

A smirk appeared on her face and she yelled, "Henge Jutsu!"

When the cloud disappeared, you could see a _large_ toad.

Most of the girls screamed and jumped behind their desks while the boys took a step back to look up at the gigantic thing.

Iruka nearly dropped his pen.

"A _toad_?!"

Sakura, turning back to her former self, frowned.

"It's not just a _regular_ toad!" she explained. "It's Gamabunta! He's one of Jaraiya's toad friends!"

Iruka blinked.

"I... know..." he said after a moment. "But.. how do you know who Jaraiya-senpai is?"

Waving her hand in the air to dismiss the question, Sakura asked, "Well did I pass, Iruka?" and when she saw the questioning look on his face she quickly added, "Sensei!" with a blush.

He scribbled a few things on his clipboard and replied, "Yes, you pass," and when she walked by, he whispered, "See me after class."

She gave him a curt nod to show that she heard and went back to her seat.

~x~

Once school was over, Ino went up to Sakura and asked, "Do you want to hang out today?" and the pink haired girl shook her head and responded, "No thanks, Ino-chan. I think I'm going to train today. I haven't trained in a long time!"

"Okay," Ino smiled and skipped out the door, leaving Sakura the only one left in class... besides, Iruka wanted to talk with her.

The jounin stopped at her desk and sat in the place that Kiba sat.

"How do you know who Jaraiya is?" he asked.

Shrugging, Sakura answered, "Well he's one of the Legendary Sannin. Why _wouldn't_ I know him?"

Surprised by Sakura's answer, Iruka fired another one.

"How do you know the creature he was friends with?"

She didn't miss a beat.

"I heard the villagers talking about him, so I asked and they gave me a picture."

"Do you have this picture with you?"

"No. I memorized it and gave it back."

"Why?"

"Why do you have so many questions?"

Iruka sighed.

She was good.

Gazing up at him with bored eyes, Sakura asked, "May I leave now?" and he nodded.

Jumping up into the air, Sakura yelled, "Yosh!" and sprinted out of the room in a heartbeat.

~x~

Arriving at the training grounds, Sakura put on her new gloves that she bought from the store on her way and flexed her fingers in anticipation. She flipped out four kunai and prepared to fling... when she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her.

Spinning around, Sakura glared at the spot where she heard the noise and growled, "Come out."

After a few seconds, a bunny scuttled out of the bushes, and the girl relaxed.

Then, glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she set up a genjutsu on the training grounds to make it seem like there was no one there... just to be cautious. The field would also look rather... untouched once she was done with it.

Smiling, Sakura aimed for the target... and fired. The kunai hit just outside the target, and she cursed.

"I need to practice with these stubby arms and legs..." she growled.

A few more tries later, she could hit the targets with the exact same accuracy as if she was 17... with all of the flipping and hitting one kunai to hit something else. Landing on her feet from the flip, Sakura opened her eyes to see that every shot had hit the bulls-eye.

Sakura slumped in the grass.

_'What can I do now...?'_

An idea popped into her head and she stood up once more and pulled on her gloves with a smile on her face. Bringing her hands up, she added a bit of chakra-- only a bit-- and punched the earth. The result was pleasing. A large crater appeared just like it should.

_'Well I know that the results haven't differed much."_

She heard someone approaching her way. Spinning around, she was about to flee from the area... when she remembered that she had a genjutsu on the place. Who she saw made her smirk go even wider.

_'Sasuke Uchiha, eh?'_

He took out a few shuriken, and she started to jump up and down in excitement.

_'This would make _great_ training!'_ she squealed inside her mind.

He flung a few at the targets... and she deflected all of them. The genjutsu made him think that he hit all of them though, so that he wouldn't think anything was suspicious when his weapons bounce off the tree.

After a few minutes of practice, Sasuke decided to train harder... and turn his sharingan on.

Panic flooded Sakura's body. What was going to happen when he sees his weapons on the ground and the field scarred with craters?!

Well she knew that she wasn't going to be there to find out. Right before he activated his sharingan, Sakura used the Teleportation Jutsu to run.

Sasuke was surprised when he found a genjutsu covering the area.

"Kai!"

He was even more surprised to see that someone else had made marks on the targets, but had pulled out their weapons... and that his skillfully thrown shurikens were laying on the ground.

Taking a step back, the Uchiha fell into a large crater... and his eyes widened at how many craters were scattered in the area. It was a miracle that he didn't fall in one before.

"Who...?!"

~x~

Sakura appeared in front of the market behind Ichiraku, and she sighed in releif.

Her ears perked up when she heard voices.

"--know who the hokage _are_, don't you?" she recognized this voice as Iruka's, and when she peered under the flaps covering the customers, she saw Iruka's shoes... and right next to them were Naruto's shoes.

"Of course I do!" Naruto slurped up more ramen. "Everybody knows. They were the greatest shinobi of their time, right? The best of the best? The Undefeated ninja champs?"

A very short pause, and then Naruto continued, "And the fourth hokage was the one who saved the village... from the nine tailed fox. He was the _most_ amazing."

"Then why did you--"

Naruto cut him off, "Because _I'm_ going to be greater than any of them! _Me_! Naruto! The next hokage! A ninja legend!"

Sakura heard Iruka suck in a noodle.

"Then everyone would have to stop disrespecting me and look up to me! _Beleive it_!"

The pink haired shinobi smiled softly.

_'You're going to have to wait until after Tsunade becomes hokage... then it can be your turn to shine.'_

She teleported out of there before she could hear any more of their private conversation.

_'Probably should get to sleep... the exam's tomorrow, anyways.'_

~x~

"We will now start the final exam," Iruka read from the papers he was holding up. "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on... the clone jutsu."

Sakura glanced up at Naruto to see him holding his head in distress. She had heard about this moment from Naruto when he was 15. It wasn't a moment he exactly liked to remember, but some parts were favorable. He was going to steal the scroll... and Iruka was going to get hurt. In order to speed the process up, she was going to have to help Naruto and Iruka defeat Mizuki.

After nearly all of the students have gone, it was Sakura's turn.

"Okay... Sakura Haruno. You're up."

She nodded, and went inside the testing room as ordered.

"Let's see what you can do," Iruka smiled.

Sakura recognized that smile, and glared at him. He didn't think she would be able to do much. He was thinking that she would barely have enough to pass. Well she's going to show him...

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she called out, and many relplicas of Sakura Haruno were squished inside the room, standing on top of each other so that they wouldn't crush the judges.

There were at least 7 rows of Sakuras stacked on top of each other with 4 stacks behind them.

The judges were nearly knocked out of their chairs.

Sakura dispelled the jutsu, saw her mistake, and cursed her dramatic 12 year old way of thinking. She probably blew her cover right there and then!

"Spectacular, Sakura! You pass!" Iruka patted her on the back.

Stunned with their easy-going attitude, Sakura walked out of the testing room numbly.

She was greeted by Ino's, "So how'd you do?"

"Spectacular..." she repeated Iruka's words.

"Well... great!"

"Naruto Uzumaki! You're next!" came the shout from the testing room.

Naruto dragged himself inside and shut the door.

Standing up in her seat, Sakura whispered, "Bathroom," before leaving.

True, she was going to the bathroom... but that was only because there was only a wall separating the bathroom and the testing room.

She got there just in time to hear the jounin's, "YOU FAIL!"

Then she heard Mizuki's voice.

"Iruka-sensei, he's off, but his moves weren't bad, and he _did_ hang in there and replicate. This _is_ his third try, so you know he _really_ wants to become a ninja-- so we _could_ cut him a break... and pass him."

"Mizuki-sensei," the brown haired judge started seriously. "The other students created at least 3 effective replications, and one even made roughly 84 replicas!"

Sakura felt guilt stab her heart. Maybe she shouldn't have gone and made so many...

"But Naruto could only create _one_, and look at it. It's pitiful. I _can't_ pass him."

The kunoichi felt anger bubbling inside of her. Did he have to be so mean about it? Naruto didn't study much... of _course_ it would seem strange... but he _made_ one!

~x~

At the graduation ceremony, Sakura couldn't help but glare at her hitai ate. She threw it up onto the roof, and walked away to the place she knew where Naruto would be.

Behind him, she gazed sadly at his lonely figure on the swing, when she heard a lady's condecending voice.

"You see him?"

The other person who was talking to the lady whispered, "It's that _boy_! I heard that _he's_ the only one that failed!"

"Hmph! Well it serves him right!"

"Just imagine what could happen if _he_ became a ninja! I mean, he's the boy--"

"Shh! We're not allowed to talk about that!"

She stared at the ladies in shock. Naruto had told her that he had a bad past, but she didn't know that it would be _this_ bad!

Her feet took a step forward, going to comfort him... when she felt a familiar chakra signature hop down next to the blonde.

_'Mizuki!'_ she took a step back into the shadows and concealed her chakra.

Naruto and Mizuki looked at each other for a while before Mizuki said, "Come with me," and Naruto nodded.

When they left, Sakura had left with them, following their tracks expertly.

~x~

She hid on the roof, listening in to their conversation... just in case.

Mizuki was first to speak, "Iruka-sensei is tough, but he's not against you."

"Then why?" Naruto seemed genuinely confused, and a bit hurt as well. "Why only _me_?"

"He wants you to be strong with all his heart... but that will never happen if he goes _easy_ on you. He's like _you_, you know. No parents, no family."

"But... this time I really wanted to graduate."

A small chuckle.

"Then... I guess I'll have to tell you."

Sakura leaned in closer. Was this the part where Mizuki tricks her friend?

"It's a secret... but I'm gonna let you in on it," he continued in that nice voice of his.

She narrowed her eyes.

"You gotta go..." he whispered.

The girl leaned even closer.

"And take the sacred scroll. It will show you how to perform the jutsu correctly. Then, when you show Iruka-sensei that you learned the jutsu from the scroll, he'll have to pass you."

Emerald eyes closed. Yep, this was it...

~x~

Pink hair blew all around her as she followed Naruto through the woods. She wasn't here to stop him... she was just here to make sure Iruka's wound was closed up properly. Last time he was in the hospital for two weeks because of the infected wound!

Once Naruto took the scroll, he sat down in a small clearing and started to read.

"Okay... so the first one is... 'The Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu'. AHH! Not this one again! It's my worst jutsu!" he exclaimed, bringing a large grin on Sakura's face.

Sometimes, people never change.

~x~

Sakura had watched with minimal interest as he trained. She had seen people train with more vigor and with amazing jutsus... so this wasn't much.

Suddenly, she sat up straight as Iruka appeared in the scene.

"It's all over..." with a dark chuckle, bent over Naruto's sweating figure.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed back.

"Huh..?" Iruka was confused.

"You caught me already, not bad! You're _quick_, sensei! I only had time to learn one technique!"

The girl watched with mistrusting eyes as Iruka scanned his student.

"Listen, Iruka-snsei! I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu and you're going to pass me, and then everything will be okay! That's the way it works, right? Anyone who learns the jutsu from the scroll passes!" Naruto was nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

"Huh?!" Iruka sounded shocked. "Where'd you get _that_ idea?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it! Beleive it!" the blue eyed kid ended with a jump in the air. "He told me where to find the scroll, and this... place......"

His voice faded when he saw his sensei's stunned features.

Many weapons appeared from out of the trees, and Sakura had to stab her leg with a kunai so that she wouldn't interfere.

Iruka pushed Naruto out of the way, and ended with a wound on the leg.

"So that's how it is, huh?" Iruka mumbled. "I should've known!"

"Naruto! Give me the scroll! _Now_!" Mizuki ordered.

The girl felt a growl at the back of her throat. He was threatening one of her _friends_ for pete's sake! HE IS TO BE PUNISHED!

She heard a faint _clink_ as the brown haired jounin pulled the kunai out of his leg and yelled, "Naruto! Don't let Mizuki get the scroll! It contains forbidden jutsus that can put this village in great danger! Mizu... he used you to get the scroll for himself... for his own _power_!"

Naruto switched to an offense stance.

"Naruto... Iruka is just trying to scare you because he doesn't want _you_ to have the scroll," Mizuki explained just as smoothly.

It was the half truth.

_'... I have to keep Naruto and the scroll alive!'_ Sakura thought, and cast a genjutsu over the area.

Taking the scroll on Naruto's back, she used the Kage Bunshin jutsu to turn one of her clones into a replica of the scroll, and she jumped back up into the trees, satisfied with her work. Then, she dispelled the genjutsu and watched how the scene would play out.

Once she jumped up the tree, she heard, "They're been lying your whole _life_, Naruto. This was the decree twelve years ago."

_'The nine tailed fox!'_ she thought, turning around to see Naruto's confused face.

Her blood was telling her to beat up Mizuki, grab Naruto, and get the hell out of there... but she couldn't. The scroll exchange had to be the only thing she would change... or else things may not play out like they had.

"What.. decree?"

"Everyone knows except _you_. Iruka's still trying to hide it from you even _now_. He'd do _anything_ to shut me up."

"What _is_ this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?"

"DON'T TELL HIM, IT'S FORBIDDEN!!" Iruka hollered out.

It was only in vain, and it even spurred the white haired jounin's desire to tell Naruto.

"The decree is that no one can tell you that the nine tailed fox is inside _you_!" he emphasized the 'you' rather loudly.

_'That was uncalled for..'_ Sakura twitched.

"The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed _our_ village has taken over _your_ body. You _are_ the nine tailed fox!"

Iruka seemed to have had enough.

"STOP IT!!!"

"They've all been sneaking around, hiding these for your whole life! Didn't you think it was _strange_ how they treated you? Like _dirt_! Like they _hated_ you for just. Being. Alive!"

_'If I get my hands on him... I'm going to shred his guts!' _the girl growled.

"No!" she turned her head towards Naruto. "No, no, NO!"

Blue chakra surrounded him.

Mizuki continued, "That's why you will be _never_ accepted in this village! Even your beloved sensei hates your _guts!_"

_'You know what!? SCREW THIS!'_

"THAT'S IT!!!!" Sakura screamed, jumping down from her hiding area. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU DO THIS TO NARUTO!!"

All three looked at her in surprise, and Naruto's strong chakra disappeared. How long was she watching?

"WHAT DO _YOU_ KNOW, MIZUKI-BAKA?!" she screamed. "HOW DO _YOU_ KNOW WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK ABOUT NARUTO?! HOW DO _YOU_ KNOW THAT EVERYONE _HATES_ HIM?! WELL I FOR ONE RESPECT HIM FOR WHO HE IS! IRUKA LIKES HIM TOO! YOU KNOW WHY?! IT'S BECAUSE HE'S DETERMINED AND LOYAL... "

Her fists clenched.

"SOMETHING THAT _YOU_ WILL NEVER BE!! NARUTO IS TEN TIMES GREATER THAN _TRASH_ LIKE YOU! EVERYONE SHOULD'VE HATED _YOU_! YOU WERE THE ONE WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED, MIZUKI-_SENSEI!_" she spat out the 'sensei' since he didn't deserve the title.

Everyone stared at her, speechless.

The silence just encouraged her.

"They say that if you don't follow the rules... you are scum... but if you abandon your comrades, then you are _worse_ than scum!"

She sneered at him.

"Looks like we've got a two in one, boys."

Naruto had tears welling up in his eyes.

"Sakura-chan..."

Mizuki flung a fuuma shuriken at Naruto, and seeing this, Iruka yelled, "GET DOWN!" and ran over to Naruto, sheilding him.

Iruka waited for the impact... but didn't feel anything.

The two turned around to see Sakura in front of them, her stomach completely messed up by the large shuriken embedded deep inside.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, running over to her small figure.

"Sakura..." Iruka mumbled. "Why...?"

Her eyes were becoming dull... blood dripping out of her mouth.

She chuckled.

"I'm amazed I wasn't sliced in half..."

Falling to her knees, Sakura ripped out the shuriken from her stomach.

_'So much for not changing anything.'_

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto kneeled by her side, watching her in concern.

Iruka panicked, "Naruto! GET HER TO THE HOSPITAL! QUICK!"

Naruto was about to sling her over his shoulders, but she swatted his hand away when it got close.

"Naruto..." she mumbled. "Listen..."

The girl recalled what future Naruto had told her. Iruka's exact words when he was hit.

"Iruka... he's a lot like you... when he was younger and his parents died... no one really seemed to care. It was like they didn't have time for him. They just... forgot he was there. His grades... they plummeted and he became the class clown. He just wanted to be seen... to have them know his name. His scores weren't enough to give him attention... so he did crazy things, and he had to pay for it. It was hard for him..."

She coughed out a bit of blood. Her body was telling her to heal herself... but she couldn't reveal that she had such good chakra control at such a young age!

"He knows how you feel, Naruto. He knows that you're lonely... and that you hurt inside... and that he could've been there for you more..."

Iruka was completely stunned. How did she know all of this? His past... _everything_?!

Holding back blood, she turned her head towards her sensei as well.

"I know that you think you let Naruto down... but you didn't. If I wasn't here... you would've taken the shuriken to the back as I did to the stomach. No one should be hurt as much as you have. No one... should feel alone in the world... with no one to confide in." She knew the last part all too well. Except.. he actually had people around him. All she had was... well no one but herself.

She could hear Mizuki chuckling in the background, and she glared at him with all of her might.

"Don't make me laugh! Iruka always hated Naruto! He was an orphan because the nine tailed fox killed his parents! And now that beast is inside _Naruto_! You'd say _anything_ to get that scroll from him!" the white haired man shouted as loud as he could.

Naruto lowered his eyes to the ground in determination and ran away into the woods.

Iruka held out a hand to him, "NARUTO!!!!" with tears running down his cheeks.

Sakura's speech had reminded him of his painful childhood... something he shared in common with Naruto.

A smile graced Sakura's lips as she flung the fuuma at Mizuki.

_'Everything is going to turn out just __**fantastic**__.'_

_~x~_

**Whooo! Chapter two!!! *Fall back* WHEW! So long!!!**

**Anyways... REVIEW! ARIGATO!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you everyone for all of your positive and encouraging reviews~!**

**Here's chapter 3!**

**~x~**

Sakura cursed herself as she felt Naruto's chakra getting father and farther away from her.

_'Why did I have to go and change everything...?! Emotions _can't_ rule my life! What if Naruto goes and... does something completely reckless?'_

Slapping herself, Sakura scolded in her mind, _'No! Naruto isn't like that! He would _never_ do anything to hurt the village...!'_

A soft _thump_ indicated the Mizuki had jumped down from his perch.

A small chuckle left his mouth.

"You know, once he makes up his mind nothing can change it," Mizuki pointed out. "He's going to use the scroll and take revenge on the village. You _saw_ that look in his eye, didn't you? Those are the eyes of a beast."

"No... Naruto..." Iruka flung a kunai at the white haired man and yelled, "Isn't like _that_!"

Mizuki easily dodged the incoming weapon and scoffed.

"You're a joke. As soon as I eliminate Naruto and get the scroll, I'll be back for you... since pinky here is dying from blood loss," and he left with a grunt.

The pink haired girl scowled at her nickname, and glanced at Iruka's furious form.

_'I have to fix what I messed up...'_ she thought, and ran off without a second thought on her stomach wound.

"S-Sakura!" Iruka shouted in alarm at her figure disappearing into the trees.

However, before she was completely out of sight, she turned around and saluted to him.

_'I'll be just fine. Worry about Naruto instead.'_

~x~

Jumping from tree to tree, Sakura's worry grew once she had time to think.

"Mizuki and his big mouth..." she grumbled. "He probably made Naruto feel worse than ever. The seal to the nine tailed fox may actually break..."

Soon, Naruto came into sight, and she concealed her chakra once more and jumped more to his right so that she could watch him without being watched. She hid behind an oak a distance away from where he his behind a tree.

Suddenly, Iruka and Mizuki landed into the clearing at least 10 feet away from where Naruto was hidden.

The figure that seemed like Iruka seemed to be damaged, and Sakura knew instantly from his chakra signature that he was really Mizuki... and the fake Naruto leaning against a tree was actually Iruka in disguise.

"How... how did you know...?" Mizuki growled, and he turned back to his normal self. "That it was me and not Iruka?"

The fake Naruto smirked and laughed lightly before turning back into himself.

"Because _I'm_ Iruka."

Mizuki stood up and spat, "You're a _fool_. Why are you protecting that _freak_?! He's the one that wiped out your family!"

"I don't care _what_ you say. You're not getting your hands on that scroll," Iruka snapped back.

"As if _you_ could stop me. Don't you get it? Naruto is just like me!" Mizuki mocked.

"How's that?"

"He wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance. That's how beasts are. He'll pour all of his rage into the scroll and destroy _everything_."

Iruka lowered his head.

"You're right."

Sakura could hear a hurt gasp coming from Naruto's mouth. She, on the other hand, smiled. This was the part that Naruto had explained to her vividly. This was his second favorite part.

"That _is_ how beasts are," Iruka explained. "But that's not how _Naruto_ is. He's nothing like that. Naruto is one of a kind. He works hard, and puts his whole _heart_ into it. Sure, he messes up sometimes, and everyone jumps on him... but his suffering only makes him stronger. That's what seperates him from being a beast."

"So you're wrong," Iruka continued with a stronger voice. "He's nothing like the nine tailed fox. He's _Naruto Uzumaki_. Of the village hidden in the leaves!"

Sakura saw a fresh batch of tears cascade down Naruto's face as he listened to his sensei's words.

She held back a single tear at his happiness at Naruto's acceptance. Then, she remembered that she had the real scroll, and clutched it to her chest tighter... in fear that she might have to face Mizuki if he found out. Her fear didn't come from losing... it came from winning. No girl of her age should win against a jounin like him...

_'This is what caused all of the fuss... a single scroll...'_ and she sighed. She was going to have to reveal her position sooner or later.

Then Mizuki's voice brought her back to the fighting.

"Humph! You really _believe_ that? I was going to save it for later, but I changed my mind," he took out his fumma shuriken. "YOU'RE FINISHED!"

He was right in the middle of chucking his weapon at the normally peaceful teacher... but then something orange shot out of the bushed and head butted him backwards, sending his shuriken harmlessly into the trees and Mizuki's body on the ground.

Pulling himself back up, Mizuki mumbled, "Not bad... for a little punk."

"If you _ever_ lay a hand on my sensei..." Naruto warned. "I'll _**kill**_ you!"

"Such big words! I could completely destroy you with a single move!" Mizuki growled back.

"Take your best shot fool, I'll give it back to you a thousand-fold!" Naruto threatened.

"Let's see you try! Show me what you can _do_, nine tailed fox!" the white haired nin yelled.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" his hands flew into the right sign.

At least a hundred Narutos appeared from the smoke.

All of them sneered at Mizuki, challenging him to come at them with all he had.

"Wha...? What _is_ this?" Mizuki trembled at the sheer number of the solid shadow clones.

"If you're not coming to _us_, then we'll come to _you_!" the Narutos cheered.

A scream flew from the jounin's lips and sounds of fighting emanated from the forest.

~x~

Sakura shook her head at the beaten up Mizuki, groaning and bleeding on the grassy floor.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hehe... sorry... I kind of got carried away," he laughed nervously. "Are you okay, Iruka-sensei?"

"Yeah..." he gazed at Naruto fondly. "Naruto... come here a minute. I've got something I want to give you."

~x~

The girl turned her head away from the two, eyes shining with tears.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto screamed in joy, and tackled his teacher with his new hitai ate on his forehead.

"Hey, that hurts!" Iruka complained, laughing as well.

Sakura leaned back on the tree, arm resting on the sacred scroll, patiently waiting for them to get over their hug fest.

After a few minutes, the laughing and teasing had stopped, and Iruka stood up.

"Well... I guess it's time to take the sacred scroll back to the hokage," he sighed.

Naruto nodded obediently and pulled up the scroll from the ground to tie it onto his back... but then it poofed away.

"T-the sacred scroll!" Naruto stuttered in alarm. "Where'd it go?!"

The two frantically searched the area, and Sakura giggled at the sight.

Stepping into the light, she held out the scroll with one hand and asked, "Looking for this, you two?"

Iruka and Naruto both stopped in their tracks to look wide eyed at the fragile-looking girl.

"How'd you get the scroll?!" Naruto exclaimed. "I had it the whole time with me!"

As an answer, the girl tossed the scroll to Iruka and walked off into the woods with a, "I have my ways. Have a nice day!"

For the third time that day, Iruka wondered, _'Who __**is**__ that girl...?'_

~x~

Reaching the gates of Konoha barely alive, Sakura hid behind the bush and started the healing procedure. When it began, the healing was sluggish, but as it dragged on, her senses became more alert and her body started healing faster.

Once the kunoichi was sure she was completely healed, she walked through the gates... but was stopped halfway by Izumo and Kotetsu. They leaned close to her face and studied her.

"Who are you, little girl?" Izumo questioned.

"I'm Sakura," she replied innocently.

"Why isn't an adult traveling with you?" Kotetsu asked.

"Because they're behind me. With Naruto."

"Who's the adult?" Izumo peered behind Sakura, and saw two shadowy figures.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Sakura scowled.

She can only take so much questioning in one day.

The two retreated, surprised that such a small girl would talk to that guards of Konoha that way.

After a bit of a pause, Sakura glanced behind her nervously to see Iruka and Naruto getting closer. She didn't exactly want to meet up with them in fear of even _more_ questions.

"Well nice seeing you two but I really have some business to attend to elsewhere, so bye!" she talked in a hurried manner and rushed away in a trail of dust.

~x~

Letting out a sigh of relief, Sakura watched the shining stars from her spot. She was hiding in a willow tree which was ironically just outside the Uchiha district.

When she was smaller, she had accidentally broken a bowl, and received a beating from her father. Scared, she ran and ran until she reached this weeping willow. The willow seemed to know what she was feeling, and she had laid her head down at the base of the trunk, feeling safe and serene for some reason.

Since then, she always visited this place when she wanted to be alone or when her feelings were in turmoil.

Her form was slumped down in a lax manner on the topmost tree branch, her eyes half lidded.

_'Tomorrow... I have to work on my jutsus when I have the time...'_ was the last thought on her mind before she fell into a fitful sleep.

~x~

Yawning, emerald eyes glazed over with sleepiness shone in the morning light.

"Whoa, I slept late!" she mumbled to herself.

It was nearly afternoon, and a strange odor was creeping up her nose.

A few seconds later, she recognized that smell as her own odor.

"Whew!" she pulled on the sleeve of her t-shirt lightly. "I have to go and take a bath!"

~x~

Droplets clung to Sakura's exotic colored hair as she stepped out of the public shower.

"Ahh... I really pampered myself today..." she laughed in a carefree way.

She wrapped her towel around her and made her way to the girl's locker room.

Just as she was about to slip off her towel, she noticed a girl with blonde hair and orange clothes come into the locker room.

_'... THAT'S NARUTO'S SEXY NO JUTSU!!' _

Securely wrapping her towel around her once more, she glared daggers at Naruto and his plump looking friend.

"GET OUT OF THE GIRL'S LOCKER ROOM, BAKA!" she screeched, and roundhouse kicked him.

Dispelling the plump person's jutsu, it revealed to be a small boy who she recognized as the hokage's grandson.

"Konohamaru, eh?" she growled.

"I bet you won't hurt me... I'm the hokage's grandson," he said sadly, looking down at his feet.

Her sympathy for him only lasted a second before she punched him right out of the locker room.

"AND STAY OUT!" she yelled after his flying body.

She snatched all of her clothes and quickly got dressed. Her fist still had a few things to say to them...

~x~

A girl in a red t-shirt and black shorts stood over two beat up boys.

"Now... did you learn your lesson?" she asked calmly.

"Yes..." the two boys groaned.

"Sakura-chan... you have a mean right hook..." Naruto pouted.

She laughed.

"You have no idea."

Giving the two a good look over, Sakura was satisfied with their punishment.

"Now, I'm going to leave and train. I better not hear _any_ misbehavior from you guys again..." she cracked her knuckles. "Or else..."

A blonde head and a brown head nodded up and down vigorously. They had enough bruises and humiliation for one day.

Face lighting up, Sakura waved to them as a goodbye and skipped away humming a cheerful tune.

Konohamaru shuddered, a hand on his swollen cheek.

"She scares me..."

~x~

Rummaging through her messy closet, Sakura Haruno was grumbling something unintelligible before finding the item of her wants and jumped back out of the closet.

"YES!" she hugged the objects. "My targets!"

Indeed, there were 35 targets in all. Her mother had given them to her for her birthday, and she hadn't thought of using them until now.

She jumped up on the roof and pinned one target down on top of each roof in Konoha.

_'An obstacle course!'_

Insides churning with excitement, Sakura jumped up and flung the first kunai at the target.

_Hit!_

3 more...

_Hit, hit, hit!_

31 more weapons shot through the air and hit every target there was.

Grinning like mad, Sakura thought, _'I'm ready for you, Kakashi-sensei!'_

Someone appeared behind her.

_'Speaking of Kakashi-sensei...'_ Sakura spun around in surprise, facing her future sensei.

"What are you doing, little girl?" he asked suspiciously.

Sakura secretly cast a genjutsu over her targets and kunais so that he wouldn't ask anything, and she wasn't a threat, so he would have no reason to turn on his sharingan.

"Nothin' much. What about you?" she tried to sound as casual as possible as she cast another genjutsu over herself as well, so Kakashi would be talking to an innocent, illusionary version of Sakura Haruno.

Letting out a held in breath, the girl took one last glance at her sensei before leaving to pick up her targets. When she got back, Kakashi was engaged in a interesting argument over his perverted book.

"It's a sophisticated piece of literature!" he insisted.

Sakura let go of the genjutsu after she slipped the targets in her book bag and glared at Kakashi's repulsive book.

"Yeah... and I'm a guy," she scoffed. "Throw that book away before I burn it... or so help me, Kakashi...!" she shut her mouth before she could utter out, 'sensei' and get herself embroiled in a situation she wouldn't want to be involved in.

His one uncovered eye narrowed.

"How do you know my name?"

"Everyone knows your name, Kakashi," she swatted the air. "You just gotta know the right people."

She was smooth.

"Well... see you later!" and she jumped down and into her bedroom window.

Thumping the roof with a broom, Sakura threatened, "And if you're not off my roof in five seconds, you're really going to see your book in ashes!"

_'I'll see you again tomorrow, Kakashi-sensei...'_

~x~

Walking into the room side by side with Ino, Sakura tried to maintain her calm demeanor... but that was hard to do when she was bouncing off the walls on the inside.

"Sakura-chan!" came Naruto's loud call.

Sakura looked to her right and saw Naruto.

"Naruto!" she waved at him.

"See ya later, Ino-pig," she whispered to her friend, and got the reply of, "Later Forehead."

Smiling, Sakura turned her head back to the hyperactive blonde boy who had a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Sit over here, Sakura-chan!" he waved excitedly.

Laughing, Sakura made her way down to Naruto, and slid in the empty spot next to him.

"Are you excited, Naruto?" she joked.

"HELL YEAH! I wonder what team I'm going to be in!" he was fidgeting in his seat as if waiting was actually painful for him.

Sasuke glanced at the girl who had taken the vacant spot next to Naruto. He faintly remembered her being one of his crazed fangirls. She was the scariest one, the one who was always in the lead along with Ino when they were chasing him around town... but what happened to her hair? Didn't all the other fangirls grow their hair out to impress him?

Another thing was that... she didn't even seem to notice his presence though only one person was between them. Under normal circumstances, she would've noticed him right off teh bat and the daily fawning would begin... but she didn't even look his way yet!

She was also talking to Naruto like a long lost friend of some sort... and a few weeks ago she was pushing the boy out of the way like he was _nothing_...

"HEY!" came a voice from behind Sakura.

The pink haired girl turned her head and rose an eyebrow in question.

"You're in my seat! GET OUT!" the long haired brunette growled.

Sakura turned her head and ignored the girl, glaring at the table... feeling rather disturbed.

_'Was I once like _this_? I can't believe I was such a lunatic!'_

"Are you _deaf_?!" the girl screamed even louder. "_Get out of my seat!_"

Many fangirls have now crowded around Sakura, all demanding for her and Naruto to move.

Naruto stared at the girls in disbelief and then switched his eyes to Sakura. Was she one of the creepy fangirls? He hoped not. The little speech in the forest proved that she was the first girl to actually talk to him with respect... and like he was her equal.

He didn't want the king of the ice cubes to steal her away... I mean, he's already got all thoes other girls... there's no point in adding another.

Sakura watched with amusement as Naruto climbed into the desk to lock into a death glare with his nemesis.

"Naruto... don't glare at him like that..." Sakura giggled.

Naruto turned his head around to look at her in question. Was she _really_ one of the fangirls? Was she offended that he was glaring at Sasuke? He turned his head to stare at Sasuke once again. What did they see in this guy? He was nothing special!

Sakura rose an eyebrow and examined, "You're too close to his face, Naruto. You guys might--"

Someone behind Naruto lightly bumped him on the butt, causing Naruto to engage in a lip lock with the Uchiha.

"--kiss!"

The boys' eyes widened in shock and repulsion. They tore apart from each other and started to sputter and spit. Whatever it took to get the spit out of their mouth.

Sakura couldn't take it. The lip lock... the look on their faces when they joined... the disgust on their faces...

She was practically shaking from attempting to hold her laughs in... so she let it out.

Everyone's eyes turned to her as she laughed her guts out. Even when she fell out of her seat, she was still laughing like mad.

"Aww Sakura-chan! It's not funny!" Naruto whined, embarrassed that a _guy_ had taken his first kiss... and in front of his crush, no less!

"It's... hilarious...!!!" Sakura said between laughs.

Once her laughs had subsided into giggles, Sakura looked at the audience staring and her and she stuck her tongue out.

"Admit it! It's funny!"

The fangirls still had to digest the fact that they weren't the ones to steal Sasuke's first kiss... but once they did, they all cracked their knuckles.

A large, menacing aura radiated from the group.

"Naruto..." they hissed.

Iruka walked to the middle of the room to shush everyone, since it was nearly impossible to calm fangirls down. He waited until everyone was back into their seats before beginning.

"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you made it through physical trials and hardships... but that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now... you are only genin; first level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads-- each squad will be lead by a jounin; an elite ninja."

Naruto perked up.

Sakura snickered behind her hands at the sight of so many genins popping their eyes out of their heads. She couldn't believe that all these people didn't notice all the three man squads roaming through Konoha!

So it was common sense to know that _they_ would be in 3 man squads as well!

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities-- that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads..."

Sakura squirmed in her seat. This was her chance to prove to Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi that she wasn't dead weight! YOSH!

"Squad seven... Naruto Uzumaki... Sakura Haruno...."

Naruto jumped up in his seat, and Sakura threw up a smile at him.

"... and Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto slumped and groaned, "I'm doomed..."

Sakura sweatdropped and gave him an encouraging pat on the back before he could protest about Sasuke being on his team. After all, it was meant to be like this.

She poked him on the forehead and said, "You'll live."

Iruka cleared his throat for their attention.

"After lunch, you'll meet your jounin teachers. Class dismissed."

~x~

Meaning to do something useful with her lunch break, Sakura decided that she wanted to train. She walked down the stone path towards the training grounds when Naruto caught up to her.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Do you think we could maybe have some lunch with me... you know... to get to know each other better?"

Sakura smiled in apology.

"Sorry, Naruto. I have to get back to my studies. Another time, alright?"

Naruto looked down at his shoes in disappointment and grumbled, "Alright..." and watched her retreating figure.

~x~

A finger traced the edges of the bench. The bench that was on the stone path. The bench that she was unconscious on. The bench that held so many memories...

Sitting down, Sakura felt the emotions rushing back to her all of a sudden, and she jumped right back up.

_'What's wrong with you?!'_ she thought sternly to herself. _'You may be a 12 year old ninja again... but that doesn't mean you're going to let your emotions get the better of you!_'

Then, she forced herself to sit back down on the bench and she took out a book to calm herself down.

"Sakura..." Sasuke's voice called out from the tree in front of her.

Sakura blushed. This was the day... where she and Sasuke nearly kissed! Looking up, she saw him in the same pose that he held many years ago... but... something was... _off_.

Then it hit her.

_'This is Naruto's chakra signature! THAT BAKA! IT WAS _HIM_ THE WHOLE TIME?!'_

"Your forehead is so big and charming..." 'Sasuke' said in a smooth voice. "It makes me want to kiss it."

The girl remained impassive. Just because Naruto _looked_ like him didn't mean that it would make her react the way he wanted her to.

"Sasuke," she greeted with a nod. "Don't kid around."

"I was just kidding. That would be something that Naruto would say," he smiled and sat down next to her.

A pause.

"So... what do you think of Naruto...?" he asked... almost shyly.

Sakura's head nearly jerked up.

Back then... it was really _Naruto_ asking her all this... and... she had responded so cruelly... she was truly selfish and heartless back when she was younger.

After thinking a moment, Sakura replied, "Well... I think that Naruto is very... strange and out of the ordinary..." out of the corner of her eye, she could see him deflate.

She shrugged.

"I mean... _normal_ people would go and ask others what they think about them when they're all normal and _not in a transformation jutsu!_"

Naruto poofed back to his regular, blue eyed self.

"How did you know it was me, Sakura-chan?!"

She rolled her eyes and answered, "Sasuke would _never_ say more than two whole sentences when he's talking to me casually. If you want to impersonate Sasuke, you have to reduce your vocabulary to grunts and nods."

Naruto burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. Sakura had just made fun of the class hunk! Maybe she _wasn't_ one of those scary fangirls after all!

He suddenly turned serious again, and looked away before asking, "So... what do you think of me... Sakura-chan...?"

Sakura's eyes blanked out at the sudden change of subject. How was she supposed to reply without leading him on...?

"Well... you have a stro--" she was cut off by a loud grumble from Naruto's stomach.

He blushed and ran off, yelling, "Hold on a sec! I'll be right back!" but Sakura had yelled after him, "I won't be here! Lunch break is almost over!"

Sakura shook her head at his behavior and turned to go to the classes they were supposed, but before she could even take 3 steps, she nearly bumped into the Uchiha she was just talking about 5 minutes ago.

"Sasuke!" she yelped in surprise and nearly fell, but steadied herself on the bench. Regaining her posture, she brushed herself off and smiled at him.

"Glad to have you on my team, Sasuke," she held out a hand, trying to lighten his mood... but of course, she sounded _too_ happy... which plucked at his nerve strings.

The Uchiha glared at the hand and then glared at her.

Sakura stared back at him.

He spun around without a sound and continued on his way. Disgruntled, Sakura puffed out her cheeks childishly and tried again.

Stepping in front of him, she extended a hand and said, "This is my hand. You have to shake it. It's called... a handshake." She had said the last word slowly, as if teaching him something new.

Taking one look at the hand, he ignored it once again and kept walking.

Cheeks turning red with anger, Sakura decided that she was done with his attitude.

Angrily blocking his path, Sakura nearly yelled, "Ok, I know that you're all bitter and everything, but you could at least _try_ to pretend to be happy to be a genin with a team! Now take my hand, and shake it!"

Sasuke was rather shocked at her tone of voice. No girl had _ever_ yelled at him before. It was... in a way... a new experience.

Seeing his lack of movement, Sakura sighed. Instead of waiting for him to take her hand, she grabbed his and shook it for him.

Once she dropped his hand, she was all happy once more.

"Okay! Arigato Sasuke, for this nice chat! Ja ne!" and she walked away with a slight bounce in her step.

His left eye twitched.

_'PMS much...?'_ he thought sarcastically.

~x~

**See...? I told you I update quickly. This chapter came up the day after chapter 2. I'm a fast typer. xD**

**I bet that makes you guys happy. :D**

**After this... don't check until maybe 3 days later... because I need a bit more inspiration. :)**

**I'm gonna read a few fanfics myself... O.o **

**Hehehe...**

**Ja ne~!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yeah... there's a lot of 'Naruto' in here so far... I have to get past these major events first before I can really delve into Sasuke... **

**Hehehe... sorry... OH! And just a warning... this chapter is **_**really**_** suckish cause' I typed it all in a day... T.T**

**Remember to check _every day_ if you want to read a chapter the day it comes out... because with me... you never know. But... it's always under a week or so. :P**

**~x~**

Ino watched Sakura with pity as she walked _on_ the handrail while reading a book.

"Poor Sakura..." she murmured. "Training even while reading... so sad..."

Shikamaru eyed her lazily.

"Why is it so sad...?"

Scoffing, Ino snapped, "Duh! Because she never looks in front of a mirror anymore! All she _does_ nowadays... is train! I've seen her sitting on the top of a tree! With _morning hair_! How oblivious could you get?!"

He rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Not everyone has to spend two hours on their hair."

This comment earned him a big bump on the head, and he watched Ino's fuming form get smaller as she walked to her pink haired friend.

"Troublesome woman..."

~x~

Behind the large medical textbook, Sakura was smiling slightly.

She had now found out 3 more ways to disable to human body, and she was proud to have firgured it out in under three minutes. The book didn't exactly say it directly, but she had discovered what they were hiding through the context clues.

Now to see if she was right...

_'I'm going to have to test it out during the bell test...'_ and a flash of menace passed through her eyes before she jumped down from the bar and put her book away.

Just then, Ino ran over to her.

"Forehead!" she gasped in disgust. "_What_ in the world are you _wearing_?!"

Sakura looked down at her clothes in confusion.

"I'm wearing a red t-shirt and blue shorts."

Ino shook her head in sympathy.

"Those colors clash! I'm going to have to change you into a whole new outfit!"

Eyes widening in horror, Sakura declined quickly.

"NO!" If _this_ Ino was anything like the future Ino... then shopping for clothes would be as hard as swallowing down puke... and Sakura wasn't going to risk it.

Ino seemed rather hurt.

"Well... if you didn't want my help, you could've just said so--"

Sakura interrupted the fashionable girl with a simple, "I want something that I can move in easily... so that I can catch up with Naruto and Sasuke if we're doing anything."

Ino gave Sakura a calculating look and asked, "Are you _really_ over Sasuke-kun, Forehead?"

Two emerald eyes rolled and Sakura laughed, "Didn't we already go through this before? I don't like Sasuke. He doesn't like me. End of story."

Sakura shrugged to stress her point and started walking the other direction. Might as well go back home...

Relaxing, Sakura spread her senses until it covered Konoha completely.

_'Hm... Naruto's in the bathroom... his chakra is _very_ disturbed... he must've had bad milk or something.'_

A giggle escaped her lips as she imagined Naruto with a stomach ache over the toilet.

_'Sasuke is heading to class...'_

Then she looked for Kakashi's chakra signature.

Her body froze.

_'He... HE'S IN MY HOUSE?!?!?!'_

"Kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso!" she cursed and she pumped chakra into her feet to get to her house faster.

In a minute, she arrived at her house and jumped up to her window, releived that Kakashi hadn't got to her room yet...

_'But he's heading up the stairs...!'_

She just _couldn't_ let him into her room! There were just too many weapons in there... even for a kunoichi! Rushing into her room, Sakura kept going until she was right outside her door. Then, she locked the door and placed a sealing jutsu on both the window and the door.

Work finished, Sakura let out a sigh of relief and slid down the wall next to her room entrance.

_'Close call...'_

"Oh! Sakura!" Sakura's head shot up to look into the eyes of the hokage.

"Hokage-sama!" she smiled nervously.

She noticed that Kakashi was standing behind him like a shadow.

Pink eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why are you here?"

Kakashi spoke up, "We've been visiting the houses of my future students." His eye crinkled up.

She had come to know those as smiles.

"So... I'm your student?"

"Yes."

"Yosh!"

"Now, we've been into every room--"

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down, Sakura..."

"But Kakashi-sensei!"

"We just have to go see your room."

"Uhh... no thanks."

"Sakura! Let me in!"

Using her body to block the door, Sakura innocently said, "What room? This is... the bathroom! Very dull, very white. Nothing interesting here."

Kakashi gave her a glare and attempted to push her aside, but she held her ground... with a little help from chakra.

His single uncovered eye narrowed and he pulled his hands up to make the signs for the teleportation jutsu.

_'Uh oh... I'm in trouble now...'_ Sakura thought, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

To the Hatake jounin's surprise... he didn't teleport anywhere. Something was keeping him back from entering the room!

His headband was pushed up so that his sharingan would be able to see the problem.

The kunoichi's eyes softened.

_'Obito's sharingan...'_

It had taken a lot, but she had pressured and annoyed Kakashi during a mission until he told her the whole story. When he did, she had seen Naruto die in her mind instead of Obito, and she started to shake... violently.

But she was still happy that Kakashi had trusted her enough to tell her his past.

"You put a sealing jutsu over your room..." Kakashi's flat comment made Sakura realize that she had been staring at her sensei.

_'Whoops...'_

But she covered her embarrassment with sarcasm.

"No duh! Would you want some pervert going into _your_ room?!"

Good thing the hokage had already left due to an important meeting.

Kakashi ignored her last comment and asked, "Why did you block your room?"

Green eyes looked up at him in exasperation.

"Because I've got underwear and bras strewn all _over_ the place! I'm not letting you see my underwear!"

His eyebrow rose.

"But how did you know how to perform a barrier jutsu?"

"Well... my... former sensei had performed it once... and I just... kinda copied it."

"Sakura-chan! Lunch break is almost over! You better get back to class to meet your sensei!" her mom yelled from downstairs.

"Alright mom! Whatever you say!" Sakura shouted back. Then facing Kakashi she said, "Well I gotta go. See you later, Kakashi-sensei."

~x~

"He's late!" Naruto complained, looking out the door from side to side.

Sakura hid a smile behind her book. Of course he would be late. He's _Kakashi-sensei_, after all. Hopefully he wasn't checking out her room... but then again she had kept the barrier over it, and-- just for a precaution-- placed a strong genjutsu over it.

"Hmmm...." Naruto was still looking for their late sensei.

Sasuke was sitting at the table by the window and the kunoichi was leaning against a desk right next to his. This was a minor detail, but it was like this when she _first_ met Kakashi... so she was going to keep it that way.

"Don't get your head stuck in there, Naruto," she joked.

He stuck his tongue out at her and whined, "How come _our_ teacher is the only one that's late?! I'm ready to roll. Believe it!"

"Oh I believe it all right," she grumbled under her breath.

"The _other_ groups already met _their_ new teachers and took off on an adventure or something, and Iruka-sensei is gone too!" he stressed.

This was the second time for her to hear it... _believe it_. She was tired of hearing his complaints.

"I _know_, okay? Just hold tight."

She closed her eyes to rest them for a minute, but then opened one eye lazily when she hard Naruto's goofy laughter. He was standing on a stool, putting an eraser in between the gap of the door so if anybody walked in, it would've just fell on their heads. To him, it was the ultimate prank.

"That's what he gets for coming late!" Naruto exclaimed and jumped off the chair. "Surprise!"

"Naruto... you're going to make him think that we're a bunch of idiots," Sakura mumbled, starting to get sleepy.

"Hn. Our teacher is a _jounin_. An elite ninja. You think he'd fall for stuff like that?" Sasuke grumbled with closed eyes.

"Sasuke, you're voice is so quiet!" Sakura observed loudly. "You don't sound healthy. Use your voice more often... and _louder_ as well."

Naruto started snickering in the background.

He glared at her.

"Of course _you_ would say that."

She beamed, her teeth shining like beacons.

"Arigato Sasuke!"

Just then, a hand grasped the door.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura turned their heads to watch.

The hand pulled the door back... a silver haired head poked through the door... and the erasor fell on him.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I got him! You totally fell for it!" Naruto pointed and laughed at his new sensei.

Sakura smirked.

"Nice, Naruto."

Sasuke was staring at the jounin without much emotion, but was starting to become skeptical about his teacher's skills.

Kakashi took to eraser and examined it.

"Hmm... how do I put this...?" he looked over his group before speaking again. "My first impression of this group... you're a bunch of idiots."

The two boys looked as if they were hit in the head by an object that fell from the sky. Sakura wasn't affected very much, and she was still leaning against the desk with her head stretched back in a relaxed manner. Her eyes were closed as well.

"See? He thinks we're a bunch of idiots, Naruto. I told ya so," Sakura grinned and she held up one hand in a peace sign... but her body was still in that relaxed position.

Kakashi's dark eye wandered over to his new female student.

He turned from the group and thought, _'Let's see if you're going to be the third wheel in this group... Sakura Haruno.'_

~x~

"So... why don't you introduce yourselves... one at a time," the jounin suggested.

Team 7 was on top of the building... their first talk with their sensei was apparently going to be up on a roof.

Pretending to be the naive girl back then, Sakura asked, "Introduce ourselves? Well... what are we supposed to say?"

She might've tried a bit _too_ hard on that one... but that's what you get when you put too much curiosity in the voice of a young 12 year old.

_'Pshh... oh well.'_

"Things you like... things you hate... dreams for the future... hobbies... things like that," he explained.

"Why don't you tell us about you first?" Naruto asked. "I mean, before we talk, tell us about _you_ so we see how it's supposed to work."

"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... I don't feel like telling you that." Naruto's head turned upwards in surprise.

"My dreams for the future... never really thought about it. As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies," he finished.

Sakura giggled under her hands. Back then, she was annoyed with him... but now, it seemed funny how little he told his team.

"Well that was pointless; all he really told us was his name," Naruto grumbled.

"Naruto, your turn. You won the ride. You first," Kakashi mentally passed the baton to Naruto, who took it energetically.

"Believe it! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I _really_ like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop... but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them... and my future dream is... to be the _greatest_ hokage! So then the whole village would have to stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm _somebody_! Somebody important!"

Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Wow... he's grown up in a very interesting way."

Looking at Sasuke, he called, "Alright... next."

"My name... is Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura scoffed, "Why the pause? Were you wondering which to put first? Sasuke... or Uchiha?"

Naruto choked on laughter.

Ignoring her, Sasuke went on.

"I _hate_ a lot of things... and I don't particularly like _anything_. What I have is _not_ a dream... because I _will_ make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan... and destroy... a certain... _someone_."

Once he finished, the silence stretched a bit.

Naruto seemed rather freaked out, wondering if that certain _someone_ was him.

Sakura was indifferent, but that was normal since she'd heard this all before. She also knew more than Sasuke... so why pretend to be interested?

Oh yeah... to seem like she hadn't heard this yet.

Jumping up into an erect sitting position, Sakura blurted out, "Wow, Sasuke! I didn't know you were so _mysterious!_"

Everyone stared at her, and she shrunk back down.

_'Maybe I overdid it a little bit... I mean, it probably look like I was half asleep, and then had a late reaction 5 seconds after Sasuke was done.'_

"Ok... last but not least. Sakura, your turn," Kakashi leaned back looking bored.

The pink haired girl opened her mouth enthusiastically... but then closed it. What could she say? She couldn't say that punching craters in the dirt was her hobby!

"Uhh... I'd rather not say... let's just skip me and go on with it. Shall we?" she scratched the back of her head, looking very much like Naruto as she did so.

Kakashi turned his head to the side a bit.

"No, we shall not. We've all introduced ourselves... now it's _your_ turn."

Sakura was stubborn, and remained unwilling.

"No thank you. This is a choice. Everyone here knows that I'm Sakura Haruno."

Her reluctance to talk caught everyone's attention. What was she hiding?

"It's only fair, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded. "Onegai shimasu!"

Giving in, Sakura sighed, "Fine. As you all know, my name is Sakura Haruno. My likes, dislikes, dreams, and hobbies are things you need to _butt out_ of."

Naruto gaped at her.

"Wow, Sakura-chan! Yours was less informative than either Kakashi's or Sasuke's!"

Glaring at everyone, she growled, "Happy now?"

_'I hope I didn't reveal anything... other than the fact that I can be even more distant than Sasuke and Kakashi! No way am I going to tell them about the future anytime soon...'_

"Alright... so you all have your different views on everything. Tomorrow, we will have our first mission," Kakashi announced.

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto asked while saluting to his sensei.

"It's a task... that the four of us are going to do together," he replied.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Kakashi-sensei. Just get to the part where you tell us that there is a sixty six percent chance that we will fail... and don't forget to mention that only 9 graduates will pass while the rest are weeded out and are sent back to the academy... and _just in case_ Naruto asks, say that the graduation test was to pick out those who might be capable genin."

Kakashi blinked.

Naruto's jaw fell to the floor.

Sasuke remained impassive, but rather stiff.

"How did you know that?" Kakashi asked suspiciously.

"Do you not read books other than _Icha Icha Paradise_? It tells you everything in there," Sakura responded casually.

"Which book is it?"

"Do you think I memorize every single book for the miniscule chance that someone might ask me the title?" she snapped.

She was getting rather good at this.

"Hm... well this is going to be a pass or fail survival test. A... training of some sort... if you call it that," the silver haired jounin added on to Sakura's flawless info.

"THAT'S CRAZY!" Naruto burst out once the info settled down in his brain.

"Yeah... well... life is crazy," the girl grunted while absentmindedly taking out a kunai and sharpening it-- a good shinobi should know how to properly sharpen their weapons with their eyes closed.

Kakashi eyed the girl curiously before speaking one last time.

"I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5:00 A.M and bring your ninja gear... oh... and tomorrow... you better skip breakfast or... you'll puke."

Sasuke and Naruto tensed up even more, if possible. Was their teacher trying to _kill _them?!

The masked jounin glanced at Sakura in disappointment. She really had no reaction whatsoever. Her body was relaxed, and didn't even twitch from nervousness.

He had managed to scare the two tough boys who had been through a _very_ hard time in life... yet he couldn't scare a girl who probably cried her hardest when she got a bunch of mud all over her hair.

Was he losing his touch...?

~x~

The next morning, a tousled pink head poked up and out of her blanket.

"Mmm... 6:47 A.M.... awww... I woke up early," she grumbled in her half asleep voice. "I was supposed to wake up 3 minutes later... but oh well. No harm, no foul."

She grabbed some fruit and wolfed down some energy bars.

_'Like I'm going to puke... I'm not going to be the idiot who skips breakfast and loses their strength. Pftt. Not going to trick me _this_ time Kakashi-sensei.'_

She arrived at the training grounds with a cracker in her mouth.

"You're late, Sakura-chan!" Naruto complained.

Sasuke glared at her. A late ninja... by an hour and fifty minutes... was sure to be weak.

Taking the food out of her mouth, Sakura explained, "Well if Kakashi-sensei was two hours late for the important sensei to student meet up, then he's definitely going to be late for _this_."

Then, she pushed the rest of the cracker past her lips and finished it.

"You were supposed to skip breakfast," Sasuke pointed out to her.

She rolled her eyes and brushed the crumbs off her shirt.

"Yeah... well I wasn't going to be going to do the _survival test_ on an empty stomach... that would just make me weaker... and less capable to pass. Plus, I'd be less... awake... for this test."

Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly.

"You're too smart, Sakura-chan..."

The girl smiled and thanked him. Right when she sat down, Kakashi came into view.

"Okay everyone, ready for your first day?" he asked.

Naruto jumped up and yelled, "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi smiled and lied, "Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the longer way."

Sakura shook her head.

"If a black cat crossed your path... then taking the longer way wouldn't do anything to change it. Besides... what way takes 2 hours long? The path from Oto?!"

The jounin ignored her and cleared his throat, saying, "Well... let's get started."

~x~

A timer was pushed.

"It's set for noon," Kakashi explained, and then held up two silver bells. "Your task is very simple; just take these bells from me... that's all there is to it."

He jingled the bells for emphasis.

"If you don't get them by noon, then you won't have lunch--" Naruto cried out in shock. "--you'll be tied to those posts--" Kakashi pointed the bells in the direction of 3 thick log posts sticking out from the ground. "--and you will watch while I eat _my_ lunch in front of you."

Sasuke and Naruto glared at Kakashi, and as if on cue, their stomachs both grumbled.

"So _that's _why you told us not to eat breakfast..." Sasuke grumbled.

Something nagged Sakura in the back of her mind. Something... that she was supposed to say.

Oh yeah!

"Sensei, how come there are only two bells?" she held up two fingers... just like back then... even though it was a small thing, Sakura made sure to make it the same... just for the heck of it.

Kakashi closed his eye in a smile.

"That way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post, and will ultimately be disqualified for failing to complete the mission. _That_ one goes back to the academy."

The three started to get jittery.

Sasuke and Naruto with nervousness... and Sakura with anticipation.

"But then again..." Kakashi added with some thought. "All _three_ of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapons including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

Naruto snorted.

"Those weapons are too dangerous... especially since you couldn't even dodge that _eraser_!"

"Class clowns are usually the _weakest_ links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores... losers..." Kakashi glared condescendingly.

Sakura tightened her fists in restraint.

_'Don't punch him... don't punch him... don't punch him...'_

Kakashi turned to face the whole group.

"When I say 'start', you can begin."

Naruto growled noisily at his sensei, his face red with anger.

He quickly pulled out a shuriken and lunged for his teacher.

In a flash, Kakashi had the boy's hand caught with the hand turned so that the shuriken was pointed at his own neck. His free hand was holding Naruto's head, making sure that the kid wouldn't be able to escape from his grasp.

"Don't be in such a hurry," Kakashi spoke as if he was lecturing a baby. "I didn't say 'start' yet."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Sakura couldn't help but feel suddenly apprehensive.

_'Speed... was one of my stronger points back then... but I didn't see if I had the same speed in the past few days! AUGGHHH! I'm so stupid!'_

"But... you came with the full intention to destroy me so... I think I'm actually starting to _like _you guys," Kakashi complimented.

Naruto grinned in a goofy way.

Kakashi stood up straighter and gave them a little bit of a heads start.

"Get ready....."

All three tensed.

"Start!"

~x~

Kakashi started looking for their positions.

"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively," Kakashi recited from memory.

He quickly found Sasuke to be hidden behind the leaves and branches of a tree...

"YOU AND ME, RIGHT NOW! FAIR AND SQUARE! LET'S GO!" Naruto declared from right in front of him.

Found Naruto... but the girl... Sakura... she had completely disappeared off of his radar!

He'd have to worry about that later.

"You know... compared to the others... you're a bit... weird," Kakashi observed.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto shot back. "The only thing weird _here_ is your haircut!"

~x~

Sakura listened to the whole conversation with amusement.

_'I wonder if Kakashi-sensei has found me yet...'_

Something wiggled beside her ankle, and she flinched.

Earthworms weren't things she was rather fond of. Especially when she couldn't particularly see them.

_'Being underground is a bit... bothersome.'_

Naruto's loud footsteps vibrated her head, advancing on Kakashi.

~x~

Naruto spotted Kakashi's hand slip into his pouch.

Assuming the worst, Naruto stopped in his tracks and jumped back, ready for any weapons thrown at him.

"Shinobi Battle Techniques: Part One, Taijutsu; The Physical Art," Kakashi recalled from a book he read.

Naruto heightened his guard.

_'Taijutsu! That means hand to hand combat!'_ he thought in alarm.

Kakashi's hand went deeper into his pouch and grabbed something.

_'Then why is he reaching for a weapon?!"_

The sensei's hand pulled out of his pouch to reveal... a book!

_Icha Icha Paradise.._ to be exact.

Naruto was completely befuddled.

"What the...?"

"What are you waiting for?" Kakashi asked while reading. "Make your move."

"But... I mean..." Naruto stammered. "Why are you reading that book?"

"Why?" Kakashi let out a breath of exasperation. "To find out what happens in the story, of course."

"Don't let it bother you," Kakashi continued. "With your weak attacks, it doesn't matter whether I'm reading or... whatever."

A scowl marred Naruto's already annoyed face, and he pulled up his sleeve, rushing for his sensei.

"I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU!"

He punched.

Kakashi caught his fist.

He kicked.

Kakashi ducked.

Naruto gathered his strength, jumped and punched... nothing.

"Huh...?"

The space where Kakashi once _had_ been was empty.

"Don't let your enemy get _behind _you, Naruto," came a voice from his posterior.

~x~

Sakura closed her eyes and waited. This was the part...

~x~

Kakashi's eye flashed, his hands in the seal of the tiger.

"Leaf Village: Secret Finger Jutsu! A Thousand Years of Death!"

~x~

...when Naruto had received a _very_ painful ass poke.

~x~

Sasuke sweat dropped silently.

"These two are just two idiots..." he mumbled and watched as Naruto fell into the pond.

"Oh... where was I...?" Kakashi opened his book once more and started to read.

Naruto was underwater, fuming at his failure.

'_I'm not going to let it end like this!'_ he thought furiously, and began to swim up.

_'I'll attack from the water... NOW!'_

Two shuriken flew out of the water at Kakashi's head, but right before it hit, he skillfully caught them.

Naruto pulled himself out of the water, panting.

"What are you doing now?" Kakashi questioned lazily. "You're not going to get lunch unless you take a bell by noon."

"I know, I know! You told us already!" Naruto shouted in anger.

"Well you look kind of wobbly for someone who's going to surpass the hokage."

"You told us not to eat breakfast!" Naruto protested. "How can I fight when I'm starving to death?!"

Sasuke's stomach grumbled and he silently agreed with the blonde.

"So, you caught me off guard, that's all it was, believe it!" the hyperactive ninja yelled, with his hands in the air. "I'm... so hungry I don't have any strength... but I can't let that stop me! I _gotta_ get that bell no matter what! I'll find the strength _somehow_, believe it! I'm gonna pass this test, and I'm _not_ going back to the academy!"

The water behind him started stirring.

"I _will_ become a ninja!"

All at once, seven shadow clones burst out from the water.

"Haha! You're overconfident, sensei!" one of them exclaimed. "That's why you weren't ready for a shadow clone attack, my best jutsu!"

~x~

Sakura kneaded her temples.

_'So... many... footsteps...!'_

The 7 pairs of feet thundered overhead, making her whole body shake. Her head was the closest to the feet, and was being knocked around on rocks, roots, and dirt.

"Note to self..." she growled. "Never hide underground when there are more than 2 Narutos overhead."

~x~

Kakashi stood and watched as the shadow clones approached.

"Looks like the stories are true. He _can_ create shadow clones," Kakashi noted in faint surprise. "Great technique... but I don't think you can maintain it for very long. You talk like you're the best, Naruto... but you're _still_ the worst student. You can't beat me with this jutsu."

Something heavy landed on his back.

"Huh!? He got me from behind!"

Naruto laughed evilly, hanging on to Kakashi's back as tightly as he could, trapping his sensei.

"Didn't you say, 'Don't let your enemies get behind you?' Good advice, sensei! Believe it!" Naruto smirked.

"I had one of my clones come out of the river and sneak up behind you super quietly."

He jumped into the air and aimed his fist for Kakashi's face.

"Now _this_ is for nailing me in the butt earlier!"

_'Diversionary tactic...nice...'_ Sasuke thought.

He had to admit... Naruto's tactic had made him proud.

"YOU'RE MINE, AND SO ARE THOSE BELLS!" Naruto pushed his fist forward and punched...

"Oof!"

His own clone!

"Huh?! It's you..." Naruto blinked in confusion at the two Narutos on the ground... then he shouted, "Hey! You're Kakashi-sensei, aren't you?! You transformed into _me_ using a jutsu!"

The whole horde of clones started to fight, shouting accusations at one another.

"_You_ are Kakashi-sensei!"

"No, _you_ are!"

"You smell like an old man!"

"_You_ are!"

"No, _you're_ Kakashi-sensei!"

"You _must_ be him!"

"Hey! Let's undo the jutsu!" came a voice from inside the crowd.

"YEAH!"

"_That's_ it, believe it!"

"Then, it'll just be two of us, and then we'll know who's who!"

"Should've thought of that sooner!"

"_You're_ the jerk! Why didn't _you_ think of it?!"

"JUST UNDO THE JUTSU!"

A large cloud of smoke enveloped the group... and once it cleared, only one Naruto was there.

"Owww..." he groaned, his face swollen from the punches.

_'He got you with a replacement jutsu... loser'_ Sasuke observed, his eye twitching from Naruto's idiocy. _'In this jutsu, you quickly switch your own body with an object, so your enemy thinks he's attacking you, when he's actually attacking a log or rock, leaving him open for a counter attack.'_

_'In _this_ case, the jounin _let_ himself get caught, and switched bodies with one of the Naruto clones. So Naruto _thought_ he was attacking Kakashi, when he was actually attacking himself... and that jounin was _so_ smooth... he made Naruto look like a total moron.'_

Naruto gazed sadly on the ground... when something shining in the sun caught his eye.

Upon closer inspection, Naruto recognized it as a bell.

"A bell?!" he grinned like an idiot. "I must've gotten to him with my attack! He dropped a bell!"

Naruto ran over to where the bell was, and bent down to pick up the bell.

His hand was only an inch away from finishing the task when a rope snagged his feet and pulled him up, leaving him flailing around at the end of a rope like a fish on a hook.

"Hey! Hey! Lemme' down! What is this?!"

_'Of _course_ it was a trap...'_ Sasuke rolled his eyes. _'That jounin never lets his guard down. Even when he's fighting a fool like Naruto...'_

"Hey! The bell!" Naruto stretched and clawed for the bell, but he was just too high up to reach it.

Kakashi took up the bell and sighed.

"_Think_ before you use a jutsu... or else an opponent might use it against you. Oh... also... if the bait is _obvious_... don't take it."

Naruto moaned in frustration.

"A ninja must see through deception..."

Waving his fists, Naruto tried to slip out of the trap, yelling, "I... GET... IT!!!"

The jounin shook his head.

"I'm telling you this because you _don't_ get it. You _think_ you get it, which is not the same as actually _getting_ it."

Sasuke's pupils dialated.

_'This is my chance!'_ he swiped out his weapons. _'He finally let down his guard!'_

Six weapons flew through the air, aiming towards the oblivious sensei.

The shurikens embedded into Kakashi's side, making blood spurt out.

Naruto's jaw dropped in horror.

"HE JUST GOT _BLASTED_ BY SHURIKENS! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, SASUKE?! YOU WENT TOO FAR!" Naruto screeched from his spot on the tree.

Kakashi fell down... and poofed into a log.

~x~

Sakura smirked.

_'Time to go undercover...'_

~x~

Naruto felt releif wash over him when 'Kakashi' turned out to be a log.

"Whew... that was close..." he let out a breath of releif.

The pulling on his ankle suddenly stopped, and the ground met his head.

Flipping himself upright, Naruto grumbled, "Ow... what was that...?!"

To his surprise, the rope that was trapping his ankle was cut by a senbon.

"ARE THOSE EVEN ALLOWED!?"

~x~

Sasuke rushed through the trees, looking for a new hiding spot.

_'Another substitution jutsu! Now he knows where I'm hiding... I gtta move _fast_... I thought he lowered his guard... but he did that on _purpose_... and I fell for it.'_

A dark, lazy eye peered out from a hole in the bushes.

_'So _that's_ where he is...'_

~x~

Breathing in a breath of fresh air, Sakura smiled.

When you're underground, you have to hold in your breath... unless you have a certain device that lets you breath underground... but otherwise, you had to hold your breath until you were out. Luckily, even though Sakura's lungs weren't as large as before, she could still hold her breath for a fair amount of time.

Jumping down from the tree, Sakura stretched her limbs in every direction, and made a clone.

_'It should be about time Kakashi tested _me_.'_

And test he did.

Her clone had let her chakra become known, and Kakashi was immediatly drawn to it... since he had no idea where she was since the test started.

She watched as her clone's eyes become cloudy and distant... she wanted her clone to just let it happen...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" her clone shrieked and sank down to the floor. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

_'Wow... she fainted...'_ Sakura's eyebrow rose. _'I wonder what she saw...'_

~x~

Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Maybe I overdid it... but she's gotta learn to see through things."

"Shinobi Battle Skills: Number Two, The Illusion Jutsu. Sakura studied it in class, but she _still_ couldn't see it coming."

A presence appeared right behind him.

"Didn't see _what_, Kakashi-sensei?"

~x~

Sakura hid in the bushes right behind her sensei, listening to him degrade her.

Tiptoeing behind him, Sakura walked up a tree sideways so that she didn't have to stand on her toes.

"Didn't see _what_, Kakashi-sensei?" she purred.

On the inside, she was exploding with laughter at the nearly fearful look Kakashi gave her when he turned around. He looked back at where the _other_ Sakura had fainted, and it poofed away.

"Smart, but you won't be able to beat me with it..." Kakashi attempted to move, but then saw that his arm-- just by moving a bit-- was tugging on something.

He couldn't see it before, but now he could.

"Wires...!"

Sakura jumped down lightly, making sure not to hit any one of the strings.

"That's right," she smiled. "A little more pressure than needed and--" she plucked a wire. "--boom."

An explosive shuriken flew out from the shadows and into the open field... where it exploded.

"Have fun, Kakashi," Sakura winked, and disappeared along with her chakra... _again._

~x~

**This chapter was rather fun to type! xDDDDD**

**Kk... review!**

**-To the reviewers....**

**WhatChuuKnowBoutMe- Thank you!!!! xD Yeah, for the second chapter, I had NO IDEA I knew so many ways people could die... and so horribly as well! I surprised myself that chapter... O.o hehehe thanks again for the compliment!**

**Winged-Angel21- Time travel **_**is**_** unpredictable... and maybe Sakura might accidentally start the 3rd ninja war! You never know. ;P**

**ilovemusic11- Nope... no pressure at all... O.o hahaha! :D Just don't die...**

**Luka1Sakura- Me too! xD**


	5. Chapter 5

**... I didn't know I could get so many reviews... O.o**

**ARIGATO~!!!!**

**Oh... sorry... this one was kinda late... but I had to pause and retype and pause and retype... *sweatdrop* sorry.. xD**

**~x~**

Kakashi glanced around him.

_'She's quick... I didn't even feel the wires until now...'_ he carefully pulled out a shuriken. _'But she's going to have to do a lot more than _this_ to trap me...'_

The shuriken flew in a large circle, slicing all of the wires in half and setting them off.

Sasuke's eyes quickly flitted around, looking for his sensei.

_'What I heard earlier... it sounded like Sakura's scream...'_

A dark figure flew out of the trees, and Sasuke stopped to stare.

_'Is that... Kakashi-sensei...?'_

To Sasuke's astonishment, the forest beneath the jounin exploded in a fiery light of red, orange, yellow, and white.

"Sakura!" he gasped, thinking that Kakashi had set off a bomb of some sort on the poor girl.

~x~

Two rosy lips set in a pout and jade eyes watched her sensei jump out right in time.

"Aw... he escaped..." A shrug. "Oh well... I'll get him next time."

Her legs dangled over the edge of the tree branch... a very _high_ tree branch that overlooked the whole forest.

Pink hair tumbled backwards as she tilted her head back to gaze at the clouds.

"Kakashi's Headhunter Jutsu should be coming soon... I better get going... I don't want to miss this."

~x~

Landing, Kakashi turned around to look at the demolished forest, and he sweat dropped.

"You are trying to _kill_ me, Sakura..."

Just then, Sasuke ran into view and tensed at the jounin's scorched clothes.

"Why weren't you fast enough to dodge your own explosion?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. "Aren't you supposed to be prepared for your own sneak attacks?"

"Wasn't me," Kakashi blinked at the tree ashes. "Sakura set this off."

Obsidian eyes widened a fraction.

_'__**Sakura **__managed to burn the edges of his clothes... when me and Naruto couldn't get a scratch on him! ... Lucky shot, I guess. Caught him unaware.'_

The two faced each other, both watching the other for the slightest twitch.

After a few seconds of intense staring, Sasuke decided to make the first move.

He threw out a few shurikens at Kakashi, who easily dodged them.

"There's no point using normal attacks," Kakashi reminded the boy.

Sasuke smirked and threw a kunai which snapped a rope in half.

_'A trap!'_ Kakashi thought, and jumped out of the way.

Several shurikens bombarded the place he was a second ago.

Sasuke suddenly appeared behind him.

_'What the...?'_

A strong kick was aimed for the masked face, but was blocked by an arm.

Sasuke twisted around to punch him, but Kakashi caught that as well. Another kick was delivered, but was blocked once more.

Now Sasuke was up-side-down... right in front of the bells.

_'This kid...'_ Kakashi jumped back a few yards as soon as Sasuke's finger touched a bell. _'He's fierce... I won't be able to read 'Make Out Paradise' now...'_

~x~

"AHHGGG!"

Naruto pulled on the senbon as hard as he could, but his hand slipped and he ended up falling flat on his back.

"I give up!" he threw his hands up in the air.

Ever since he noticed the senbon there, he had been trying to pull it out so that _he_ could use it.

Even though he didn't exactly know how to use it, he would try, since not knowing how to use it properly made it even _more_ dangerous.

There was one flaw in his plan though... HE COULDN'T PULL THE FRIGGIN THING OUT!

The weapon was lodged deep into the trunk of the tree, giving him a tiny space to hold it, and it wasn't nearly enough.

Naruto childishly crossed his arms in frustration and glared in a different direction.

That was when he spotted two boxes on top of a stone monument.

"Hey! What are _those_ things down there?" he brought a hand to his eyes and grinned. "Ah! I know what those things are! Those are boxed lunches!"

"Ohh... a ninja must see through deception!" Naruto repeated Kakashi's words a bit mockingly and he snickered.

~x~

"Well... you _are_ different from the other two, I'll grant you that," Kakashi observed aloud.

Sasuke grunted and started making rapid hand signs and shouted out the last two signs of the jutsu.

"Horse! Tiger!" He leaned back, his cheeks inflating. "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"What?! Genin can't _do_ fire jutsus! They take up too much chakra! There's no way!"

Sasuke blew out fire, attacking the place Kakashi was.

Once his jutsu thinned, he let it go and nearly jumped in surprise when he didn't see a burnt body in the crater made by his jutsu.

_'Where did he go?! Behind me? Above?'_

He searched for his sensei in panic.

"Where...?" It was as if Kakashi could read his mind. A hand grabbed Sasuke's ankle from below."_I'm where you least expect me."_

Sasuke was pulled down into the ground, his head still sticking out.

Kakashi landed with a slight jingle of the bells.

He crouched in front of Sasuke and smiled.

"Right under your feet. Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu."

Sasuke tried to move his body, but found that he couldn't.

"Can't move huh? That would be ninjutsu; the third shinobi battle skill," Kakashi explained. "You have talent, and I was right. You are... _different_ from the others, but... different isn't always _better_."

Kakashi stood up to leave, but then turned around to give Sasuke a word of advice.

"They say that the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down."

~x~

Naruto chuckled evilly, sitting on the memorial stone.

"Sensei said that if we didn't get a bell, we don't get any lunch... but if I eat my lunch _now_, then there's _nothing_ he can do!"

Taking the chopsticks, Naruto put his hands together in prayer and shouted, "It's chow time!"

"Hi there."

_'Kakashi-sensei!?'_

Naruto screamed, then dropped his head at being caught and mumbled, "I was just... joking, sensei."

"Nice try."

~x~

Sasuke let out a groan of anger.

_'He's stronger than I am... I can't get around __**that**__,'_ he thought in frustration.

Suddenly, he felt a tiny bit of pressure at his feet, and he realized that his body was being pushed outwards!

"N-nani?!"

After a few seconds of snail like progress, his whole body was unexpectedly forced out of the hole, making him fly in the air.

"What the...?" he looked back down the hole for any signs of life. "What was that...?"

~x~

Naruto's stomach growled pitifully.

They had passed noon, and now Naruto was tied to a stump while Sakura and Sasuke sat next to him, untied.

"Uh oh..." Kakashi teased. "Stomach is growling, huh? That's too bad. Oh, by the way, about this exercise? Well... I've decided that I won't send _any_ of you back to the academy."

Naruto opened his mouth wide in joy.

"Hn," Sasuke slightly smirked.

...But Sakura remained impassive.

"That means all three of us... all _three_ of us...!" Naruto kicked his legs in jubilation.

"Don't get so happy..." she hissed. The two turned their heads towards her. "There's a twist in his words... I can feel it coming."

"Yes... all three of you... will be _dropped_ from the program," Kakashi ended with a venomous tone. "_Permanently!_"

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura seemed extremely shocked.

"DROP US FROM THE PROGRAM?!" Naruto exclaimed. "THAT MEANS WE CAN _NEVER_ BE NINJA! YOU SAID THAT IF WE COULDN'T TAKE THE BELLS, WE WOULD BE SENT BACK TO THE ACADEMY! _YOU CAN'T JUST CHANGE YOUR MIND AND KICK US OUT! WHY WOULD YOU __**DO**__ THAT?!"_

"Because you don't think like ninja, you think like little kids," Kakashi explained. "Like _brats_."

Sasuke's glare intensified, and he rushed out to attack his sensei.

In a split second, Kakashi was sitting on Sasuke, one foot in his spiky hair.

"You think it's all about _you_," Kakashi stared Sasuke down.

Then he faced the whole group.

"You don't know what it _means_ to be a ninja. You think it's a _game_, huh?"

Naruto gaped at his sensei's words. Of course it wasn't a game! Being a ninja is extremely dangerous!

"_Why_ do you think we put you on _squads_, did you consider _that_ question for one moment?!"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked innocently, once again pretending that she didn't exactly _know_ what her teacher was going to say.

"I _mean,_" Kakashi continued darkly. "You never realized what this exercise is all about! _Not even __**close**__!_"

Naruto frowned in confusion.

"What it's _about_?"

"Yes... that determines whether you _pass _or _fail_. Use your head. _Three_ people on a squad. _Why_ do you _think_ we would want to do that?"

"AGHH! HOW ARE _WE_ SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHY YOU PICKED THREE PEOPLE?! WE DIDN'T MAKE THE RULES!" Naruto shouted.

"It's so basic! _Teamwork_!"

Naruto and Sasuke was shocked as ever. Sakura didn't have time to pretend. She was still holding back from beating her sensei up.

"It's too late _now_, but if all _three_ of you had come at me, you _might_ have been able to _take_ them," Kakashi spat.

Sakura calmed down enough to remember her role last time and spoke up, "You set up the test with_ three_ people and only _two_ bells! If we worked together and got the bells, only _two_ of us could keep it! That would lead to squad conflict and they would break up!"

Kakashi glowered at them even more and responded, "Exactly. I purposely pitted you _against_ each other. I wanted to see if you could _overcome_ that and put the squad in ahead of yourselves! A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork! But _you_! It never even crossed your _mind_. Naruto!"

Kakashi turned his head towards the blonde ninja.

"You do everything on your own. _Everything_! And _you_..."

Kakashi pushed his foot down harder on Sasuke's head.

"You Sasuke, thought the others were so far beneath you that they were _worthless_! Arrogance! Ninja missions are carried out in _squads_! Of course you'll need individual skills, but _teamwork_ is the essential element! _Every_ shinobi understands this... when individuals put _themselves_ above the squad, this could lead to _failure_, and even _death_! Now Sakura..."

Sakura lifted her head to glare at the jounin.

"You just completely _disappeared_! You did _nothing_ to help the team, and you could've risked the mission by killing me! Even when you had the _perfect_ chance to get the bells, you didn't and stupidly chose to _run_. You may have good battle skills, but you lack _common sense._"

She bit her lip so hard that it started to bleed.

"Many dangers could occur in a battle. For example--" Kakashi took a shuriken and pressed it against Sasuke's neck. "--Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked from Sasuke to Sakura, fearful that Sakura would actually attempt to kill him.

Suddenly, the girl disappeared from view, and appeared right behind Kakashi with a similar shuriken pressed threateningly against his neck.

"But I would slit your throat _first_, Kaka-sensei. Did that ever cross your mind?" she hissed into his ear.

Naruto's legs twitched in amazement.

"Whoa, Sakura-chan! I didn't even see you move!"

Sasuke didn't exactly see everything, but he saw Sakura's feet vanish in front of his eyes.

_'She... she's nearly faster than __**me**__!' _**(A/N Oh Sasuke... still too proud to admit that she _is_ faster than you...)**

Then, she was gone and reappeared back at her spot, leaning against Naruto's post.

_'It wasn't much... but it made me feel a whole lot better...'_ Sakura thought in content.

"Well if it was _you_ in Sasuke's place," Kakashi's voice was slightly shaky from Sakura's threat. "The enemy would hold you hostage and you would have an impossible choice to make... and somebody ends up _dead_."

Kakashi stood up and got off of Sasuke, and he started walking towards the memorial stone.

"On every mission, your life is on the line. Did you look at this stone?" he pointed towards the memorial. "The names engraved on it? They are all ninja... who are honored as heros in this village."

Naruto then started jumping up and down in excitement and he yelled, "That's it, that's it, that's it! Now I know! I decided that I'm going to have _my_ name engraved on that stone!"

Sakura's hand tightened on the blade of the kunai she was holding, making it slice through her gloves and into her hands.

"I'm not gonna live and die for nothing like a dog! I'm gonna be a hero, a _hero_!" Naruto continued.

A senbon appeared out of nowhere at Naruto and nicked a part of his cheek, making a minor wound.

Naruto turned towards the direction of where the senbon came from, and saw that Sakura threw it, her palms bleeding from clenching the kunai.

"_**Never**_ say that _again_, Naruto..." she growled. "_You don't understand..._" She turned towards the stone, her eyes getting glossy. "Those heros... those fellow ninjas... they're a different type of hero. They're KIA."

She swung around to face Naruto, tears flying off of her face like rain, eyes menacing.

"_They were __**killed in action**__!_ They're _dead_! That's what makes them a hero! _**NEVER**_ say that you want to be on there... _**EVER**_**!**"

Naruto lowered his head, his pupils dilated.

"Oh.."

Kakashi turned from the girl to the memorial. It shocked him, to say the least, that Sakura knew what this memorial was about... and her strong eruption of emotion when Naruto had said he wanted his name engraved on it.

"This is a memorial stone... some of the names of my closest friends are engraved here..."

The cherry blossom's eyes saddened. She knew exactly what he was talking about... and she had to say _something_.

"Kakashi-sensei..." he turned around to look at her. "...It wasn't your fault.... that your friends died."

The white haired man shook his head.

"You don't get it. It _was_ my fault. It was completely my fault that I wasn't there fast enough to help..."

The girl furrowed her eyebrows.

"But you were hesitating for the mission... if I was in your place, I would've hesitated as well... besides... it was your friend's choice... and you gained knowledge in the end."

Kakashi was stunned for a moment. This girl was talking as if she knew exactly what happened... no... that wasn't possible. He never spoke about it, and he was pretty sure Rin and his sensei wouldn't have told anyone about it either. Maybe she just hit home by chance.

Suddenly, his mood darkened.

"Alright... I'm going to give you one more chance... but it's going to be much harder. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch _now_ to gain more strength... _but_... Naruto doesn't get any."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at his sensei and groaned in frustration.

"It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself. If anybody feeds him, then they automatically _fail_. _I_ make the rules. _You_ follow them... _got it_?"

~x~

Kakashi had left, and the two had taken their lunches.

Sasuke was eating.. rather noisily... but Sakura didn't even touch her food yet.

Naruto's stomach growled noisily.

"This is no big deal! I can go without eating for _days_! For _weeks_! Believe it!" His stomach protested and he sweat dropped. "No problem."

Sasuke noticed this, and held out his lunch to Naruto.

"Here."

Sakura's hand shot out of nowhere and pressed the food right back to Sasuke's lap.

"No. You eat. _I'll_ give Naruto my lunch."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow, and Naruto looked at her in shock.

"Look, I already _stuffed_ myself with breakfast, whereas you two didn't eat _anything_! You _both_ need your energy for this, and I _know_ how badly you two want to be ninja. I won't mind too much if _I_ get kicked out... but you... if you two get kicked out, I will personally hunt you down and _hurt you_." At the last part, Sakura glared at the two to emphasize her point.

"You guys have a good future and many dreams to accomplish... besides, if you or Naruto miss any food... even a tiny morsel... then the whole team will get kicked down a notch. If _I'm_ hungry, then it won't be affected as much."

With that, Sakura started feeding a blushing Naruto mouthfulls of food. When she saw that Sasuke was still staring at her, she took Sasuke's chopsticks and pushed food into his mouth as well.

A large cloud of dust appeared from the field, and Kakashi's head came out of the grey cloud.

"_YOU_!!!" he shouted, but then was knocked back. "What the...?!"

When the dust cleared, everyone could see Sakura sitting on top of the jounin.

"Oh don't give me that _crap_, sensei! Just _get on with it_! Don't have to give us a heart attack before you even say it..."

Naruto blinked.

"Say what? That Sakura failed...?"

Kakashi gave the pink haired kunoichi a measuring look and the smiled at the two boys.

"Congratulations. You passed."

"Nani?! How'd we pass?" Naruto yelled, completely lost.

"You're the first squad that ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception," Kakashi paused and then continued. "Those in the ninja world who break the rules are scum... but those who abandon their friends are _worse_ than scum."

Naruto's head snapped up.

_'Where have I heard that before...?'_ he wondered, digging through his mind to find what he was searching for.

~x~

_"They say that if you don't follow the rules... you are scum... but if you abandon your comrades, then you are worse than scum!"_

_She sneered at him._

_"Looks like we've got a two in one, boys."_

_Naruto had tears welling up in his eyes._

_"Sakura-chan..."_

_~x~_

_'Oh yeah...! Sakura said that in the forest against Mizuki!'_

"The exercise is over," Kakashi announced. "Everyone passes! Squad 7 is starting its first mission tomorrow!"

"YEAH! YEAH! I DID IT, I DID IT, BELIEVE IT, I'M A NINJA, NINJA, NINJA!!" Naruto bounced, shaking his head side to side hyperly.

"Let's go home," Kakashi turned around to leave, but then Naruto called his name.

"Kakashi-sensei! Where did you get that saying from? 'Cause Sakura said it once too! In fact, she practically said the same thing... same words and everything!"

Kakashi's eyes flickered in Sakura's direction, but not seeing her tense or anything, he dismissed it as a coincidence.

"Then she's very wise," Kakashi smiled. "I hope that next time, you will all help each other for a change."

Sakura smirked at her sensei.

"Weren't _you_ the one who said to read underneath the underneath?"

Her sensei shot her a confused look along with her teammates.

"I _did_ help Naruto and Sasuke. Why do you think Sasuke got out of the Headhunter Jutsu so fast?" Sasuke leaned back a bit in surprise. _She_ was the one who pushed him out?

"How do you think Naruto was cut off from the trap so quickly without falling into the second trap you set?" Naruto's eyes widened for probably the 15th time this day. She was the one who threw the senbon!

Then again, it made sense, because she showed that she knew how to throw one when Kakashi introduced Naruto into the KIA memorial.

"The reason I didn't just take a bell while you were trapped was because I wanted Sasuke and Naruto to get them _by themselves_. They'll have no sense of accomplishment whatsoever if _I_ gave it to them. In fact, they'd probably get mad instead... and then probably train until they kill themselves from overexertion. I didn't really care if I got one or not. As long as these two get one."

She tapped her temples.

"Use your noggin, Kaka-sensei!"

When no one said anything, Sakura grinned like a madman and then stuck up a peace sign.

"Well, see you guys tomorrow! I'm off!" and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The white haired jounin turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke... she's a lot more different than you are."

"Hn..."

~x~

"HEY! GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! ARRGGG, THEY DO THIS EVERY TIME, BELIEVE IT! EERRRGGGG! _YOU FORGOT TO UNTIE MEEEE!!!!!_"

Sakura's body shot up as she heard Naruto's scream.

"Whoopsies..." she mumbled, and started going in a full sprint towards Naruto.

~x~

Naruto beamed at the pink haired girl as they walked through the lamp lit streets of Konoha.

"Thanks for untying me, Sakura-chan!" he shouted in her ear... unknowingly of course.

She flinched at the volume and replied, "Dō itashi mashite." **(A/N 'You're welcome' pronounced: 'doh EE-tah-shee mosh-teh') **

When they reached the ramen stand, Sakura sat down and pulled Naruto down onto the seat next to her.

Naruto stared at her in surprise.

"Sakura...? Why are we at Ichiraku?"

His hope rose.

"Cause' I promised to have ramen with you, remember?"

His ears perked up.

"Yeah! Believe it!"

"Ok, eat as much as you want. I'm paying!"

"Thank you _so_ much, Sakura-chan!"

Naruto smiled at her with twinkling eyes and tears trailing down in happiness... but that lasted a second before he turned towards the ramen stand owner and shouted, "ONE MISO, OLD MAN!"

Sakura giggled and sat back to watch Naruto devour the ramen.

Another familiar chakra signature made Sakura sit upright, focusing on the chakra.

When she figured out who it was, she had to double check in shock.

_'Nani!? Sasuke?!'_

Turning around to face the bush behind Ichiraku, Sakura could make out a tiny strand of black hair sticking out of the plant.

Jumping up from her seat, Sakura ran over to the bush, grabbed the Uchiha's arm, and dragged him over to the ramen stand.

Once she was sitting down as well, she threw her arms up in the air excitedly.

"Join us, Sasuke!"

"Do I have a choice?"

The pink haired girl gave him a playful swat on the shoulder, causing him to nearly fall over.

"Of course not, silly!" she laughed, and decided to take a look at Naruto.

Bad choice.

The amount of empty ramen bowls stacked in a pile almost made her nauseous... no wait... it _did_ make her nauseous...

She quickly turned around to face the other direction, her face pale.

_'So... much... ramen.... all consumed in one setting....!'_

Her hands clutched at the seats, making a jagged crack from one end of the chair to the other. She could almost feel her stomach acids churning.

Sasuke glanced down at her hunched figure.

"What?"

Shooting Sasuke a glare, the kunoichi stood up from her seat.

"Sorry... but I feel kind of... sick. I'm going to go home and rest... Ja ne!"

She disappeared from Ichiraku, leaving Sasuke alone with the dobe... and it was just then that the receipt came.

Ayame pushed the receipt in the middle of Sasuke and Naruto.

"5,000 ryo?! Naruto, you baka!"

~x~

_-Kzzt- "Sasuke, I'm at point B."_ **(A/N They're talking through communicators...)**

_-Kzzt- "Sakura at point C."_

A 3 second pause.

_-Kzzt- "Naruto, I'm at point A, believe it!"_

_-Kzzt- "You're __**slow**__ Naruto. Okay, squad seven... Sakura!"_

_-Kzzt- "Yeah, sensei?"_

_-Kzzt- "What's that jingling noise?"_

_-Kzzt- "... A bell. What else?"_

_-Kzzt- "Why do you have a bell with you?"_

_-Kzzt- "Because I'm going to get bored, so I brought this bell. Don't you see it? I'm holding it up."_

_-Kzzt- "Don't let it distract you. Alright, team 7!"_

A light rustle in the bushes, and a shadowy figure with gleaming yellow eyes jumped out.

_-Kzzt- "The target has moved! Follow it!"_

Two heads poked out from behind a tree... one black , one blonde.

"Over there..." Naruto whispered to himself.

He and Sasuke quickly hid behind another tree closer to the target.

_-Kzzt- "Sakura! Why haven't you moved?"_

A soft tinkling rang through the forest.

_-Kzzt- "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, I was too busy with the bell. The really long ribbon got tangled."_

_-Kzzt- "Well get going. We can't fail this mission."_

_-Kzzt- "Alright, alright. I'll get go-- WHOA!!"_

_-Kzzt- "Kakashi-sensei! The cat moved again!"_

_-Kzzt- "... I don't think we're going to have to worry about the cat anymore, Naruto. Sakura's got it."_

_-Kzzt- "GET THIS STUPID CAT OFF OF ME KAKASHI!"_

_-Kzzt- "Throw the bell somewhere else, Sakura."_

_-Kzzt- "I __**DID**__. Get. Him. Off. Of. Me."_

_-Kzzt- "Fine, fine, fine."_

_-Kzzt- "You better be here in five seconds, or I'm going to kill this cat, Hatake."_

When Kakashi arrived at the scene, he saw that Naruto and Sasuke were standing to the side, while Sakura was struggling with a cat.

Kakashi sweat dropped. Instead of a crazy, rabid fight like he'd been expecting, the cat was purring against Sakura's arms, while the poor girl was trying to hold the cat as far away as possible.

"Help me!" Sakura yelped as the cat jumped out of her arms and latched onto her shoulder, rubbing against her cheeks.

"Lost pet: Tora... captured... kind of... mission accomplished," Kakashi sighed.

~x~

"Ohhhh my poor little Tora! Mommy was so worried about you!" A rather large lady in expensive clothes suffocated the cat with hugs and kisses. "Mommy was very worried about you, fuzzykins! Yeeeesss!"

"Dumb cat... deserves to be squashed..." Sakura mumbled, sitting on the floor crossing her arms.

"Now then..." the hokage read over the list of D ranked missions. "For Team 7's next mission we have several available tasks. Among them: babysitting for the chief counselor's three year old, helping his wife do the shopping, digging up potatoes, and--"

"No!" Naruto exclaimed in horror at the lack of excitement in those mission suggestions. "I want to go on a _real _mission! Something challenging and exciting... not this little kid stuff! Come on, old man!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto in boredom.

_'He's got a point,'_ he thought.

Sakura was exploding with the wait.

_'Keep encouraging him, Naruto! I want to do that mission to the wave over again! Come on hokage-sama... __**give in**__!'_

Kakashi was slumped over in exasperation.

"I _knew _this was coming."

"HOW _DARE_ YOU?! YOU'RE JUST A BRAND NEW GENIN WITH NO EXPERIENCE!" Iruka jumped up and slammed his hands on the table. "LIKE EVERYONE ELSE YOU START WITH SIMPLE MISSIONS TO DEVELOPE YOUR SKILLS AND PROVE YOURSELF!"

Sakura's ears started to hurt.

_'Naruto and Iruka have more in common than they would like to admit... they're both seriously determined... and when they want to be they can be so __**friggin loud**__!'_

"ARE YOU _SERIOUS_?!" Naruto yelled back with as much energy... if not more. "BABYSITTING IS NOT A MISSION! IT'S JUST A STUPID-- AHHH! OOF!"

Kakashi shut the loudmouth up with a hard hit to the head.

"Will you put a lid on it?!"

Naruto jumped up and started moaning in pain while rubbing the back of his head.

"Naruto! I seems that you do not understand the tasks you have been given!"

Naruto stopped making such a racket to look up at his hokage.

"Listen, Naruto... many kinds of requests come into our village _every day_; from babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded, then analyzed, and then ranked: A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by abilities: Hokage, at the top, jounin, chunin, then genin at the bottom. At the highest level, we select the missions and assign them to nionja who have the appropriate skill and experience... and if the mission is successful, we receive a fee that supports our village and our work."

The cat was dragged out of the room crying because of its distance away from the pink haired genin.

Sarutobi pointed at the three new ninjas and explained, "Since you are untried genin just starting down the shinobi path... you are getting D level assignments of course-- hm?"

He finally noticed that no one was listening to him.

Naruto was talking about a whole different topic.

"So I had this Tonkotsu ramen yesterday, and I'm thinking Miso ramen today--"

"Silence!"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head in apology.

"Oh... sorry..."

Naruto turned his body around to face the hokage.

"Ah! You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks all the time! I'm a ninja now, and I want a ninja mission!"

Then, he puffed out his cheeks in determination and crossed his arms.

Kakashi continued to rub the back of his head grumbling, "I'm going to hear about _this_ later..."

The hokage started to chuckle, and he put his pipe back in his mouth.

"Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat... he's a _former_ brat... if he wants a mission, then so be it."

Everyone lifted their heads up in surprise.

"If you're so determined, then I'm going to give you a C ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

Naruto's spirit suddenly lifted.

"Really?! YES! Who? Who? Are we guarding a princess? Or some busy counselor?"

Sarutobi smiled under his hat.

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now--" his voice got louder. "Send in our visitor!"

Everybody turned their heads toward the door to see who would come in.

When it slid open, it revealed a-- rather drunk-- man.

"What the...? A bunch of snot-nosed kids?!" he exclaimed.

Then, he gulped down a few more mouthfuls of sake, letting some of it drip down his gray beard.

"And you, the short one with the idiotic look on your face... do you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Naruto laughed, "Who's the short one with the idiotic look on their fa-- huh?"

Sakura and Sasuke lined up beside Naruto, revealing that... _Sakura _was the shortest one.

Naruto continued to guffaw in the background.

"...Nani...?" Sakura whispered in shock.

_'When did I become the shortest one...? Wasn't __**Naruto**__ the shortest one last time...? ... And Tazuna said the same thing as last time... so instead of calling __**Naruto**__ the short and idiotic one, he's calling __**me**__ the short and idiotic one... wait... HEY!'_

"Smart. Insult the one who's going to be watching over you while you're asleep," Sakura snapped.

The man grunted.

"Ha! No girl with _pink hair_ is going to scare me..."

A scary menacing aura radiated off of the girl, frightening every single person in the room... including the hokage!

"Er... anyway," the client took another swig of his sake. "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

Once his little speech was done, Sakura stomped out of the room, partly from anger that she was called idiotic, and partly from confusion. What else might change now?

~x~

**Ahhh! THIS ONE IS SOOO LATE! I'm sorry... but I had so much to do... sorry...**

_**3**_** days! This is so unusual for me... well... see you next time. Review!**

**-To the reviewers....**

**Mistressinwaiting- Hahaha, well thanks for picking mine to read~!**

**LowBatteryLife- Yeah, that was so no one goes back in time with her, and probably ruin the surprise... this was also for Sakura to be the only one who knows the feeling of _absalute_ lonliness. :P And yeah... it would be cool if it was one sided... I never thought of that though... O.o Haha!**

**Hazel187- Hehehe, thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I had to post this in when I got back... sorry for not warning you guys...**

**~x~**

Twisting and turning between buildings, Sakura didn't stop running until she reached the graveyard. She walked slowly around the stones, carefully examining them. Once she found the ones that she was searching for, she kneeled down in front of them.

"Mom... Dad... What should I do...?"

It was a few days after Naruto left when Sakura was let in on this information. Her mom and dad died on her first birthday. Apparently, assassins came to kill the two and they had hidden a sleeping Sakura _inside_ the dryer with a pink blanket for warmth.

Her aunt and uncle heard about this, and came rushing to the house, only to find that it was too late. The assassins had completed their task and left... but the couple heard muffled sounds of wailing, found the little baby, and took her into their care. The uncle was her father's brother, so she was able to keep the last name, 'Haruno'. She was accustomed to calling her foster parents 'mom' and 'dad', so she grew up without knowing that her real parents were buried in a graveyard right behind her backyard.

Sakura buried her face in her hands, and noticed in the back of her mind that someone's chakra signature had entered within a 12 yards of the graveyard entrance. Her hands rose to make a few hand signs for a genjutsu... but then they lowered. It didn't really matter if someone saw her like this. In a graveyard. She could just say that she had a dead puppy there. End of story. Even though her 'weak' cover was already kicked out of there, she still had her 'innocent' reputation to protect.

Standing up, Sakura looked around the graveyard quickly until she found a grave for a dead animal. From there, she kneeled down like she had in front of her parents' graves and softened her face.

"Sakura? It's time to go. We have to leave for the mission," Kakashi spoke from behind, peering at the stone in curiosity. "A dead puppy?"

Sakura nodded, and then stood up.

"Okay, I'm done. Let's go sensei."

~x~

Jumping down from a roof, Sakura landed right in front of the bridge builder, scaring him out of his wits.

"WHOA!" he yelled, reeling backwards, but Sakura-- purely on instinct-- appeared behind him and caught him before he could bonk his head on the ground.

"Be careful, Tazuna. There's going to be plenty of things happening during the trip like that, and you got to be ready for them," Sakura couldn't help but giggle.

The bridge builder blinked at Sakura, a flicker of wonder in his eyes before he stood himself up and grumbled, "Now I'm fine with _you_ as a bodyguard... but am I supposed to trust my life to this _runt_ here? He's a joke!"

He pointed at Naruto.

Naruto, who was excitedly looking from side to side, stopped and glared ahead of him.

"He's with me, and I'm a jounin, so you don't have to worry," Kakashi reassured.

"Hey!" Naruto twirled around, pointing a finger at Tazuna. "Never insult a ninja, it's a _big_ mistake! _I'm_ one of the greatest ninja _ever_! Someday, I'm going to be the hokage and you're going to have to look up to me! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it!"

Tazuna rose an eyebrow and mumbled, "Hokage are powerful and wise. _You_ are puny and brainless. The day you become hokage is the day I'll sprout wings and fly."

A vein popped in Naruto's head, and he shouted, "AGH! _Shut up_! I'll become a hokage one day, no matter _what_ it takes! And when I do, everyone is going to have to admit that _I'm_ the top ninja, including _you!_"

"You can be hokage ten times over, and to me, you'll still be a nobody," the bridge builder scoffed. "A loser."

Naruto lunged at the bridge builder, but before he could take a step, Kakashi held him back.

Naruto yelled, "I'm going to make you pay for that! Hey! Let go of me!"

Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto, we're supposed to _protect_ the client, not _attack_ him."

Sakura was actually enjoying all of this, but then a _very_ faint rustle of bushes caught her attention.

_'It's the mist nin... so... they were following us ever since we left the village?'_

She cursed her younger self for being so spoiled and weak, and then her mask of emotion carefully slipped on, portraying the innocent girl who didn't suspect anything.

~x~

Along the walk, Sakura started getting anxious from the two nins following them, and decided to loosen up her tension.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, the Land of Waves don't have a shinobi village, right? Since the sea is natural protection and all..."

Kakashi glanced at the girl and wondered how she figured it out just by observing the environment.

"Correct--" Kakashi was going to continue, but Sakura didn't really feel like listening to the whole lecture over again.

"And the kages are the shadows of the village... right?"

"Yes. The Hokage, Kazekage, Mizukage, Raikage, and Suchikage. These are the leaders... the five shadows the rein over thousands of ninja."

Sakura could see Naruto put on a skeptical face.

"Hey!"

Kakashi's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts.

"You all were just doubting Lord Hokage... weren't you? That's what you were thinking!"

Naruto shook his head nervously, and Sakura just spun around, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Just the opposite, sensei!" she laughed.

His hand landed on her head comfortingly, and she asked, "So... we're not going to run into any foreign ninja or anything... _right_, Tazuna?"

She ended with a glare towards him.

A bead of sweat appeared on his face, and she narrowed her eyes.

_'Pft. Thought so.'_

~x~

The group crossed a bridge... across water... and Sakura _really_ started to get nervous. A puddle in the middle of the dirt road... and then she remembered... that was where the mist nin was hiding!

When they passed it, she feigned playfulness and childish interest.

"Look! A puddle!" she giggled, and jumped up and into the tiny body of water.

_'Yep... they're there all right. I can feel their chakra easily... puddle when there wasn't a sign of rain for weeks... pathetic.'_

She shook the water off of her sandals and continued to walk with the group, fully expecting what was coming next.

The ninjas jumped out of the water, making everyone freeze. Their barbed chains wrapped around Kakashi.

"What the...?" the jounin exclaimed.

The two tightened their chains, slicing Kakashi into pieces.

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled in terror.

His pieces fell onto the dirt road, making a small cloud of dust.

Suddenly, two faces with a mist headband appeared behind the blonde boy and laughed menacingly.

"Now it's _your_ turn," one of them hissed.

The two of the ran separate ways, intending to trap Naruto as they did with Kakashi.

Sakura's jaw tightened painfully, telling herself not to go after the nins and kill them with her bare hands. No... Sasuke had to do this... or else Naruto would feel even _more_ humiliated.

As predicted, the Uchiha jumped into the air and flung a shuriken that hit the chain and pinned it to a tree. A kunai was quickly followed to keep the shuriken in place.

"I can't get loose!" one of them grunted, pulling on the chain connected to his metallic claws.

Sasuke jumped onto their hands, and kicked both of their faces simultaneously.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

_'Ok... so you have to kick them both... don't need to be so flashy. Just... kick and kick... done. No need to do an aero-split here...'_

The mist nin unlocked their chains and ran opposite directions. One towards Naruto... the other towards Tazuna.

Sakura calmly walked in front of her client and pulled on her gloves. Her eyes flashed.

_'This is going to be fun.'_

They approached her quickly, and before anyone could get to her, she rushed forward and punched him right in the stomach, sending him flying back into a tree.

Kakashi stood there with an arm frozen in midair, outstretched for that ninja that Sakura had punched. He was fully prepared to pull the enemy away... until the enemy went flying back with a sickening crunch.

Sasuke froze as well, staring at the crumpled figure at the base of a destroyed tree. When the poor man's body hit the massive trunk, the mighty tree was felled as well!

Sakura made the hand signs for a clone, and then ordered it to check the enemy's pulse. A few seconds later, her clone announced-- sheepishly-- that the man was dead.

"Whoops..." Sakura scratched the side of her head. "Hit too quickly..."

Kakashi walked towards the dead man, but then Sakura's clone stopped him.

"You might not want to let Naruto or Sasuke see the shape of this man. His ribs have torn through his stomach and his back, making his stomach-- and part of his pancreas-- stick out from where the broken spine was supposed to be... and the heart... well... that's lodged into the tree."

The real Sakura jumped in surprise.

"NANI! You'd think that they'd be stronger than that!"

The second hand this day rested on the top of her head, making her look up.

It was Tazuna's hand.

"Well, I no longer doubt _you_, kid. In fact, I'm really glad that you're on my side... because I'd be damn scared if you weren't."

A grin stretched from one end to the other. The pink haired girl then remembered an important fact that the bridge builder didn't tell them.

"Oh, and about the... _'C'_ ranked mission..." Sakura put air quotes around C. "I know that you didn't have enough money to pay for a B ranked mission... but seriously. You could've told Hokage-sama in private. He'd understand! He's a very generous and kind man... he'd know what to do without hurting the money in your pocket and yet still helping you with more skilled ninja. I mean, you freaked out Sasuke and Naruto here! We're only _genin_!"

Tazuna stared at her in shock.

"You _knew_?"

The girl shrugged, then turned to Naruto.

"Just to let you know, the claws that scratched your hand was covered in poison, so here."

She lifted a glowing hand to his wound, and pulled out a murky purple substance.

"Good thing this was one of the weaker poisons..." she grumbled, and disposed of the liquid.

She skillfully wrapped his hand in gauze.

"There. You won't bleed to death, and you won't be poisoned to death."

"You're a medic, Sakura?" Kakashi asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"You never asked."

Everyone sweat dropped.

Naruto's eyes widened as he pointed to a large gash running from Sakura's shoulder to her wrist.

"What about _your_ wound? Isn't it poisoned as well?"

Sakura rose an eyebrow and then looked at where Naruto was pointing.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise. "When did _that_ get there?"

Jaws dropped to the ground.

Was she _serious_?

"Aren't you going to heal it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked in concern.

She shook her head.

"Nah. I'm going to save my chakra for later."

"You're going to die, you idiot," Sasuke grumbled.

Sakura glared at him, and then explained, "I didn't say that I wasn't going to take out the poison."

She flipped out a kunai and sliced along her wound, scaring everyone in her team. Once the purple fluid dripped out of her body along with her blood, Sakura nodded in content and wrapped it in gauze.

"By the way Sakura-chan... could you teach me that move?" Naruto stuck his face in front of hers, violating her personal space.

She knew he meant her punch.

She tripped him swiftly, and replied, "Once you have nearly perfect chakra control, ask me again."

~x~

Once Kakashi had the alive mist nin tied to a tree, the mist nin asked, "How did you expect our ambush?"

"A puddle... on a clear day... when it hasn't rained in _weeks_," Kakashi pointed out matter-of-factly.

The nin shook his head.

"Not _you_. The _girl_. She knew where we were right from the beginning... before you even left half a mile from the village."

Sakura jumped back.

_'Uh oh...'_

"W-what do you mean?" she stammered.

He chuckled.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You kept sneaking glances our way during the walk. How did you know?"

Everyone turned their heads towards Sakura.

"I've practiced chakra tracking, okay?" she muttered, avoiding any type of gaze.

"And how did you wipe out that man with just one punch?" Sasuke asked.

Green eyes flicked up to meet black.

"Wow, a full sentence," she joked.

"You're changing the subject."

She sighed.

"Well _drop it_. Out main focus here is Tazuna and these mist chunins. Not how Haruno Sakura beat up some random guy!"

"We might as well go back to the village--"

"NO! Kakashi-sensei, we can handle this! Trust us!"

Sakura performed the tactic that most little kids had.

The puppy dog face tactic.

"Sakura... don't give me that look."

Lips formed a cute pout.

"Onegai, Kaka-sensei!"

Twitch.

"Fine."

"YOSH! ARIGATO!"

_'Zabuza... here I come...!'_

~x~

After a bit of walking, Tazuna began to wobble with fatigue-- not helped by the fact that he was drunk. Sakura appeared beside him in a flash and supported his weight.

This wasn't missed by Kakashi, and he dropped his bag down on the dirt.

The group turned their heads to look at him, and he faced them to smile back.

"We'll set up camp here."

Sakura nearly fainted.

_'NANI! But that didn't happen last time!'_

Sasuke and Naruto dropped their bags as well, immediately starting to set them up. Sakura on the other hand, was still numbly supporting Tazuna with a dazed look on her face.

She was brought back from her thoughts when Kakashi threw a shuriken in her direction, which she automatically dodged.

"Kakashi-sensei," she spoke as if nothing happened. "Couldn't we just keep walking? I think Tazuna can withhold a few more miles."

Kakashi shook his head.

"He's in no condition to walk any farther. We'll just have to set up camp here."

Her mouth opened to protest, but then a body hit the dirt. She spun around to see the bridge builder snoring on the ground.

"Fine," she sighed, and her arm stretched back to grab her tent... when she remembered that her sleeping things were still in her room back in Konoha.

She had nearly everything in her bag just in case for emergencies. Everything... but a tent and a sleeping bag.

Casually strolling over to her sensei with her hands behind her, she sweetly asked, "Kakashi-sensei, do you have an extra tent that you just happened to pack?"

Kakashi sighed.

"You forgot to pack your sleeping material, didn't you?"

A pink head nodded sheepishly.

"Then... you can share a tent with me."

Sakura jumped back a few feet.

"_What?_ With you and those perverted books? No way, you pedophile!"

"Then choose me... or Sasuke."

"What? Why do I only get two choices?"

"You can't have an affair with the client, and Naruto wouldn't allow you any sleep with his kicking."

She glared at him.

"I think I'm fine sleeping outside."

"That won't be as comfortable as you might think, Sakura."

She stubbornly jumped on a wide, strong tree branch and laid down, closing her eyes.

Kakashi shook his head.

"Have it your way."

~x~

In the middle of the night, the night turned a murky gray... and started to pour. An emerald eye opened, and shoulders slumped.

"Really?" she growled at the sky.

Hopping down from her perch, Sakura looked back and forth between Kakashi's tent and Sasuke's tent. A frustrated sigh came as she made her final decision, and with feet made of lead, she walked over to Sasuke's tent. She unzipped the tent and made her way inside. Zipping the tent closed again, Sakura turned to glare at the dark head that popped out of his sleeping bag to stare at his female teammate.

"Shut up," she hissed before he could make a comment. "I was forced to make a decision, and I didn't want to share a tent with the perverted sensei of ours."

The head slowly went back down to lay on his pillow, and Sakura made herself comfortable on the empty side of Sasuke's tent.

After a bit, Sakura felt a sneeze coming. She held it back, but only for a few seconds. Her hand covered her mouth quickly, but it still made an audible noise.

Sakura's body froze, listening for any sound coming from the Uchiha. Did she wake him?

A bit of shifting was heard, and she sat up to apologize, but her apology was stuck in her throat when she saw that Sasuke was holding his blanket open for her.

"Get in."

The pink haired girl was astounded. What happened to the Sasuke she knew? Was he kidnapped?

"You'll get sick."

Well she couldn't beat _that_ logic.

Her hands went to the edges of her shirt, and she started to tug it off.

A warm hand stopped her progress.

"_What_ are you doing?"

Sakura scoffed at her comrade.

"I'll get sick if I sleep in wet clothes."

She continued to peel off her clothes until she was only dressed in chest bondages and boxers.

That's when she realized that black eyes were staring at her half naked form. She glared, and he turned his head away.

Then, slowly and hesitantly, she slipped in beside him, but couldn't help but raise a hand onto his forehead.

"Are _you_ sick?" she asked.

There was no way Sasuke Uchiha would let her sleep in the same sleeping bag as him unless he was delusional.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Hn."

"Cold? Flu? Chicken pox? Anything?"

"Sakura."

"Yeah?"

"Go to sleep."

She lifted her hand off of his head and she retreated to the far side of the sleeping bag... which was 4 centimeters away. Their bodies were still unnervingly close, but it didn't exactly make Sakura's hair stand on end. In fact, the shared body heat made her rather drowsy. Her body unconsciously stared leaning towards the source of the heat, and by the time she fell asleep, their backs were touching.

~x~

The 4:00 alarm in Sakura's head went off in the morning, and she drowsily opened her eyes. She nearly screamed when she saw a head about an inch away from her cheek. Her mind calculated all of the possibilities and the ways to escape from them, but then she saw that the head belonged to Uchiha Sasuke.

_'Oh. Crap.'_

Oh, but that wasn't the worst part. Luckily, Sakura's limbs had kept to themselves... but _Sasuke's_ limbs hadn't.

Sakura's arms were curled up on her chest, so she hadn't done anything strange overnight, and her legs were slightly curved so they didn't disturb the person laying next to her.

_But._

Sasuke's arms were wrapped around her arms with his head buried at the crook of her neck like she was a teddy bear, and one leg was tucked in between her legs, sharing the warmth.

She was stuck. There wasn't a way to loosen his hold on her without waking him up.

Unless...

~x~

Running out of the tent shakily, Sakura knew that she never wanted to go through something like that ever again.

The solution was rather simple, really. Put him in a genjutsu and just untangle them.

Once he was in the genjutsu, she used her leg to push his leg out of the way. Once she was done, she went on with taking off his arms.

That was where she ran into problems.

His grip was pretty strong, even in sleep, and she couldn't use her super strength in fear of harming him. She tried to pry off his fingers, but he only tightened his hold and pressed her closer to his body. Now there was practically no space between them.

Sakura put a hand on top of each arm, and tried to slip out. It was working... for a second. Then-- because they were so close--... her leg brushed against his... erm... area.

Apparently, he had an erection.

_'Shit. Now __**that**__ was something I didn't need to know.'_

Her face turned tomato red.

Ok... _plan B._

She used her healing chakra to loosen his muscles, and quickly rushed out of the tent into the still starry night.

The night breeze calmed the raging red lingering on her cheeks.

A glance towards the horizon told the girl that the sun wasn't up yet.

She dressed into her-- now dry-- clothes and decided to kill time by going on a walk. Then, she randomly chose a direction and started walking.

~x~

Soon, she ran into a carriage accident on the road. The horse was on its side in pain, the driver unconscious, and a few whimpers coming from the back of the dented carriage.

Something in her mind told her not to interfere, but she ignored it and went with what her gut was telling her to do; save these innocent people.

The horse was easy-- she healed him and tied him to a tree. Of course, at first he was a little mistrusting, but Sakura had looked in his eyes calmly and it reluctantly accepted her help.

Lugging the driver over to the side of the road, Sakura healed his injuries and leaned him against a tree.

Now for the people stuck inside the carriage. Walking up to the beat up thing, Sakura decided to save them the old fashioned way. Her fist pulled back... and sprung out.

The whole side of the carriage gave away, but Sakura's fist was lodged inside, so she pulled her arm back, making the wall fly backwards harmlessly into a bush. What she saw next shocked her.

_'I-Inari's mother?'_

Yes, it was definitely her.

She was inside with a few other bridge builders that had helped Tazuna with the bridge construction.

_'Oh no...'_ she took a small step back, but then she stopped and shrugged. _'I'll hear about this later, but it'll be worth it."_

One by one, she helped each victim out of the wreck, and healed them, attending the ones with the more serious injuries first.

When Sakura finished with all of the people, she used her super strength to meld the metal back together and to fix the wall she broke. A few cracks here and there scarred the vehicle, but all of the dents were fixed.

Turning over to Inari's mother, she asked, "Did you call someone over to help you?"

The mother shook her head 'no', which made Sakura even _more_ confused. If this happened last time, then why wasn't she still stuck? Or even dead?

Her question was answered when someone's chakra flashed into her senses.

_'Haku... so __**he**__ saved them...'_

The morning light caught her attention, and her eyes widened into saucers. The sun was halfway up and out!

She uttered a quick, "Stay safe," to the passengers and ran back to where her team was.

~x~

Back at camp, Sasuke woke up with a strange feeling of loss. It was 5 in the morning-- his usual wake up. time-- but he felt that something was missing. Gazing at the empty space beside him, Sasuke remembered the pink haired girl that had occupied that spot the night before and froze.

The sleeping bag had molded around her figure overnight, and he could see exactly where she was sleeping, but it looks like they got closer as the night dragged on.

_Way_ too close.

He blinked a few times, the only thing indicating that he was embarrassed... other than a tiny splash of pink on his cheeks.

Wait... where did she go anyways?

~x~

That little encounter had cut off a nick of her chakra supply, and pink eyebrows furrowed in thought.

_'Will I need __**all**__ of my chakra...?'_

The camp came into view.

_'Nah. If normal genin could defeat him, then an ANBU wouldn't be too much of a big problem.'_

With that, she continued to head towards camp, but then her legs stopped. Unfortunately, Sasuke had gotten up before she got back to camp, because now he was sitting near the fire he made with his back facing her.

Her nervousness made her body conceal her own chakra, even as she headed closer to the center of the camp where Sasuke was.

Years of ninja training made her footsteps soundless and her breathing quiet.

That's why-- when she sat down next to the Uchiha-- he tried to stab her.

He thought that she was the enemy... but the key word to that last sentence was... _'tried'_. He _tried_ to stab her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Sasuke's hand try to reach for a weapon and her brain automatically told her body to respond and use self defense. Her hand snatched the shuriken right out of Sasuke's hand in the blink of an eye and the twisted his arm back so that with a tiny bit more strength, his shoulder would be disconnected to its socket. The weapon the boy was wielding a second ago was used against him and it was pressed against his neck. Sakura was sitting on his legs, so they were useless, and he was squishing his own arm with his body.

In other words, he was pinned by a girl.

A blow to his Uchiha pride.

Embarrassed and more than a little bit scared, Sakura jumped off of him and quickly stuttered, "I-I'm sorry! I thought you would've already heard my f-footsteps behind you! I didn't expect you to a-attack me like I was a thief...! My body just... _reacted_! I don't know what I was thinking... gomen..."

Now Sasuke's pride was completely shattered. He didn't hear the second loudest person on his team approach him! Yet he was surprised when she hadn't even tried to surprise him!

"Hn."

She scratched the side of her head.

"Umm... thanks...?"

The sound of zipping from another tent diverted their attention-- much to Sakura's relief-- and out of the tent came Naruto. He stretched and yawned in the sunlight. To Sakura, he seemed completely _adorable_!

In a flash, she was hugging him, making cooing noises like one would do to a baby with her cheek pressed against his.

"Kaawwwwaaaaaiiiiiiii!" she squealed.

Naruto took this the wrong way.

"Does this mean... _you __**like**__ me_?"

His hope soared.

Sakura pulled away from the hug and made a freaked out face.

"No way!"

Now hope was shot down and left to drown in the ocean infested with sharks.

Sakura continued, "That'd be like dating your own brother! Creepy, much?"

His blue eyes sparkled.

"You think of me like a brother?"

"Of course!"

Sakura beamed.

The blonde tapped his chin and started to think, then he asked, "Then who do you like?"

A topic that the kunoichi wasn't familiar with-- unless she's with Ino-- nor comfortable with.

"No one."

"What?"

"You heard me. I don't have a crush on anybody."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... it's hard to find a guy to have a crush on in Konoha."

"But... there are so many guys there!"

"That's the sad part."

"Sakuraa-cchhaaaannnn! That's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair, Naruto."

Kakashi stepped out of his tent, taking it down and rolling it up. Everyone that had a tent followed his example, and when they were done, Kakashi turned his silver head towards the only girl on the team and asked, "Sasuke?"

She nodded with a grimace on her face.

"You didn't give me much choice, so wipe that smirk off of your face before I cut it off for you."

When the grin didn't leave his face, Sakura took out a kunai, dead serious about her threat. It took Kakashi two seconds to realize that she really _was_ going to cut off his mouth-- and possibly his _face_-- so his mouth relaxed into his regular bored face.

The kunai slipped back into its holster.

"That's better," the girl smiled sweetly.

~x~

A thick mist covered the sea and clouded everyone's vision.

"This fog is impossibly thick..." Sakura gripped the edges of the boat.

Who _knew_ where Zabuza was now? His chakra was scattered across the mist. There wasn't a doubt that the mist was his doing... but where was he?

She heard Naruto take a few sniffs at the air.

Did he feel the ominous chakra as well?

The one rowing the boat stood up and spoke.

"We're not far now. Our destination is just ahead."

Naruto made a small grunt and then squinted his eyes to see better.

A large shadow appeared through the fog, and everyone looked up in order to see the whole figure.

When they got closer, the shadow was recognized as the unfinished bridge.

Sakura felt a small smile tug on the corner of her mouth, but then straightened her mouth again.

Memories flooded back to her as she remembered her... in a way... _'past'_.

_'Hm... this bridge... it's going to be named after the one who saved their lives...'_ her eyes glazed over a bit. _'The Naruto Bridge.'_

"Whoa! It's huge!" said boy exclaimed.

"Quiet!" the boat rower immediately hissed. "I told you _no noise_! Why do you think we're traveling like this, huh?"

He turned his head to the side, looking for any people that might come out and attack.

"Cutting off the engine and rowing... so they _don't see us!"_

Naruto covered his mouth, now looking rather nervous... heck, everyone did!

"Mr. Tazuna..." Kakashi's lazy eye moved to look at the client. "Before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something."

Tazuna bowed his head. He knew what was coming next.

"The men who are after you... I need to know why. If you don't tell us... I'm afraid that I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

There was a tense pause before Tazuna began, "I have no choice but to tell you... no... I _want_ you to know the truth. Like you said... this _is_ beyond the scope of the regular mission. The one who seeks my life is a very _short_ man... with a very long and _deadly_ shadow..."

Sakura snickered at the word 'short'.

Tazuna's eyes snapped open and he glared at the girl.

"You don't even _know_ who's after my life. You don't know how dangerous he is!"

Being the one who always gets the last laugh, Sakura shook her head and said, "Of course I know who's after you. Why wouldn't I? He's one of the wealthiest man in the world: Gatou. As in Gatou Transport. _Everyone_ knows him!"

As if on cue, Naruto leaned forward and asked, "Who? Who? What? What?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Gatou is a powerful man from a famous company. With the same ruthless methods to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs using gangs and ninjas."

Taken aback, Tazuna lifted his head to stare at the girl.

"You seem to know a lot about Gatou..."

She shrugged.

"I seem to know a lot about everything," and then winked.

He took one final glance at her before turning his attention to the whole group and added on to Sakura's facts.

"It was one year ago when Gatou first set his sight on the Land of Waves. He came to our islands and used his vast wealth to take total of our transported shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply... _disappeared_."

Sakura tensed. Would they be able to complete the mission this time? Would... would they die along with Haku and Zabuza? Would... Gatou still live and torment millions of lives with his unwavering power?

Tazuna continued, "In an island nation, the guy who controls the sea controls _everything_: finance, government... our very lives..."

Pink eyelashes lowered. She had forgotten how powerful this man could be... but he killed Haku and Zabuza... and _that_, he couldn't be forgiven for.

"But there's on thing he fears:," Tazuna growled, glaring hatefully at the floor of the boat. "The Bridge. When it is complete, it will connect us to the land and break his control!"

Now he looked up at the bridge.

"_I_ am the bridge builder."

"So that's why he want to attack you, right? Since you're the bridge builder and all, you're standing in his way," Sakura guessed.

"So those guys we fought in the forest... they were working for Gatou," Sasuke observed.

Naruto's index finger went up to scratch his head.

"I don't understand," Kakashi nudged. "If you _knew_ that he dangerous... that he'd send ninja to eliminate you... _why_ did you hide that from us?"

"Like what pinky here was saying back then... about me being poor... the Land of Waves is a small nation in poverty. Even our _nobles_ have very little money. The commoners who are building this bridge... they can't _pay_ for an 'A' or 'B' ranked mission-- it's too expensive! If you end this mission when you drop me ashore... there will be no bridge. They'll _assassinate_ me before I reach home." His voice became more relaxed and carefree. "But don't feel bad about that! Of course, my sweet little grandson would be upset."

His voice got higher and whinier.

"He'll cry, 'Granddad! I want my granddad!'."

Naruto and Sakura sweat dropped.

"Oh, and my daughter would condemn the ninja of the hidden leaves, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow."

A few guilty moans were exchanged through the boat.

"Oh well... it's not your fault. Forget it!"

"Well... I guess we have no other choice," Kakashi shrugged. "We'll have to keep guarding you."

"Ohh! I'm very grateful," Tazuna then smiled evilly to himself.

_'I win,'_ he thought in victory.

Of course... Sakura wouldn't let him bathe in his glory for too long.

"If you pull something like this every again, I will ignore your family's pleas no matter what they say and throw you onto land in the hands of the enemy, and I will watch and laugh while they castrate you. Got it?"

Her eyes gleamed like a predator.

The old man gulped and nodded.

Leaning over closer to Kakashi, Tazuna whispered, "She can be very scary when she wants to be."

The sensei laughed.

"She doesn't really mean it. She's actually a big softie on the inside."

The pink haired ninja heard that last snippet of conversation and turned to glare at the two.

"_Who's_ a big softie?"

"No one, Sakura. Relax," Kakashi laughed nervously.

"Mentor afraid of his student... that's a new one," the bridge builder muttered under his breath.

~x~

"We're approaching the shore," the rower looked around warily. "Tazuna, we've been very fortunate; no one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going!" the man replied.

They sailed through the fog into a dark tunnel with a row of dim lights in a line right on the middle of the ceiling. Once they made it through the tunnel and into the village, the girl could hear Naruto sigh in awe at the beautiful village. It was hard to think that this village was in poverty because of its beautiful, neat houses.

"This is as far as I will go," the rower explained as he dropped his riders off on a wooden dock.

"Thank you for taking the risk," Tazuna smiled and waved to the boat man.

He left with a, "Just be careful!" as a farewell and sailed away.

Facing his bodyguards, Tazuna ordered, "Ok, take me to my home, and I mean: Get me there in one piece."

"Right," Kakashi nodded and started walking.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura could see Kakashi silently sulking at the possibility that Gatou probably would send stronger ninja to attack, and she snickered.

_'You won't be able to read your stupid book now, Kakashi!'_

~x~

Walking along the path, Sakura lifted her face up at the shining rays of the sun and closed her eyes. In a way, she was relaxing. Meditating, really.

Her senses expanded with the relaxation and she could feel the calm chakra around her... then she felt an animal's chakra prickle with anxiety. One eye opened to see Naruto looking in all directions, trying to outdo Sasuke. Knowing what was going to happen next, Sakura walked up to him, then before the kunai would startle the poor creature, she grabbed the weapon out of midair and glared at the blonde.

"Would you stop plucking our nerve strings? They're already on end about Gatou!" she hissed.

Hurt, Naruto exclaimed, "But someone is hiding over there!"

He pointed to a bush to his left, and Sakura sighed.

Getting down on one leg, she started to make tiny kissing noises, and out of the bushes came a white snow rabbit. It ran into her arms, shaking at the thought of the projectile being thrown at it.

"You could've hurt _this_ little guy!" she cooed at the small rabbit, giving it a little Eskimo kiss.

"Oh! I'm sorry little bunny!" Naruto cried, taking the bunny out of Sakura's hands and hugging it in an apology.

Standing up casually, Sakura tried to hide the fact that she was tense all over. She could practically _feel_ Zabuza's eyes on her group, calculating how he would defeat them, and who he was going up against.

Well she wasn't going to let him hurt anyone this time. She wasn't going to be left out of the fight!

When the devil's sword came rushing out of the trees, towards the bridge builder, Sakura could faintly hear Kakashi holler, "Look out!" as she appeared in front of the bridge builder she was supposed to protect.

And protect him she shall.

Her timing was perfect, and the sword was caught by her hand.

_'Not __**this**__ time, pal.'_

Everyone else ducked, and the bunny flew out of Naruto's hands, scampering to safety.

"So little girl..." came a voice from behind. "You caught my sword, princess. Congratulations. That's no easy feat. It takes ten muscular men to carry that, let alone _catch it_."

"Shut it, Zabuza," she growled back without even turning around.

She heard him chuckle.

Then, his presence was right behind her.

"So you know my name without even looking at my face. Impressive..."

The next part was rather confusing for everyone (except Sakura). Without even a twitch of the muscle, Zabuza had the sword thrust in his hands, but he went flying back, the sword spinning and embedding deep into a tree while he landed neatly on the hilt.

Sakura was standing next to the bridge builder, closing her eyes. She did that because it was what happened last time when she ducked in her weaker body back then.

"Who _are_ you, princess?" he mumbled from his spot on the sword.

"I am Rin Takamichi."

Everyone widened their eyes.

"Just kidding!" she laughed. "I'm Sakura."

A few fell over comically.

"Zabuza: the rogue ninja from the village hidden in the mist," Kakashi muttered from his spot. "Then I'll need this..."

His hand lifted to grab the half of his headband covering his right eye.

Sakura's eyes softened.

_'Obito's sharingan eye... Kakashi... I know exactly how you feel...'_

_**---FLASHBACK---**_

_"MADARA! __**You're **__the cause of all this mess! You're the one who Sasuke __**despised**__... the he loathed... yet he joins the Akatsuki with you!"_

_"By knowing just my identity... you know too much, girl."_

_"Shut up! I'm going to defeat you once and for all!"_

_---__**After the battle....---**_

_"I... t-told you... that I w-would... come out on t-top..."_

_"You're good pinky... w-who would've known that a girl would defeat __**me**__, Madara Uchiha?"_

_"Well... believe it."_

_"I was already weakened by that Uchiha... his attack was a surprise for me..."_

"_D-Doesn't bother me... just gives me the u-upper hand."_

"_I don't want all of my work to go to waste..."_

"_Well you won't have Konoha destroyed!"_

"_N-no... the eye..."_

"_The sharingan? What about it?"_

"_T-take it..."_

"_NANI! I must've hurt you more than I thought!"_

"_**TAKE IT!**__"_

"_AHH!"_

"_It's my... d-dying wish..."_

"_You're crazy, you know that, Madara?"_

"_Do it..."_

"_I guess you __**can**__ be generous at times... in a way."_

_**---At Konoha a few months later---**_

"_Neji! Don't die on me! It'll be alright... just keep breathing! You made it through the attack, you can make it through this!"_

"_S-stop, Sakura..."_

"_Don't talk, it'll waste your breath!"_

"_Take them."_

"_Nani?"_

"_My eyes..."_

"_Iie!"_

"_Please... consider it as a gift for b-being such a great friend and ally..."_

"_N-Neji..."_

"_Stop crying, S-Sakura. You're getting my s-shirt wet."_

"_T-Ten Ten is going to __**kill**__ you for d-dying, you know that?"_

"_Tell Ten Ten--"_

"_I know. I'll tell her..."_

"_Do it now... the eyes..."_

"_I-I.... I can't!"_

"_It's an order! A-As your captain...!"_

"_H-Hai... captain..."_

_**---FLASHBACK ENDS---**_

It just occurred to her that she still might have the two kekkai genkai, even as a 12 year old. They didn't take away her chakra... so maybe they didn't take her kekkai genkai away either!

_Very_ quickly, Sakura switched on Neji's Byakugan.

'_Active...'_

Then, she changed it to Madara's Sharingan.

'_Active as well...'_

Straining her chakra a tiny bit, Sakura molded the two together.

'_Alright... check, check, and check.'_

This was all done in a very short amount of time. It only took a second to do the checklist and another second for the flashback, so she looked up in time to see Naruto charge at the rouge ninja, only to be stopped by Kakashi's arm.

"He's not like the other ninja. He's on a whole other league," everyone turned their full attention to the copy nin. "This could be treacherous."

"Kakashi of the sharingan eye," Zabuza identified. "Did I get that right?"

Sakura could see Sasuke tense.

"It's too bad, but you're going to have to hand over the old man."

At first, Sakura was a bit confused, but then she had already dubbed Tazuna the 'old man' so everything clicked in place.

"Now quick! Manji formation!" Kakashi commanded. "Protect the bridge builder, and stay _out_ of this fight!"

Sakura's jaw tightened. No way in hell would she follow _those_ ridiculous orders!

"I taught you teamwork! Let me see you put it to use!"

The tension rose as Kakashi's hand pulled his hitai ate further up, and then it exploded when he opened his eye to reveal blood red pupils with three black commas spinning inside.

Zabuza stood up from his perch.

"Well... it looks like I get to see the sharingan in action... it's an honor."

"Everyone keeps saying, 'Sharingan, sharingan'! Could someone _please_ tell me what it is?"

Sakura's mouth opened automatically.

"The Sharingan is a rare power that resides in the eyes. The user of this visual jutsu, or doujutsu, can instantly see and comprehend any taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu, and reflect the attack back on the attacker. Sharingan is a special and rare form of doujutsu. It can also be used to analyze an opponent's technique and copy it to the smallest detail as well... there are also many other secrets of the sharingan that people here would not be happy finding out."

"Right on the mark, princess. You really put your large forehead to good use."

Right as he stopped speaking, a thick mist lowered over the field.

"As for you, jounin, in the assassination unit of the hidden mist, we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. Your profile is in our bingo book-- it calls you, 'The man who copied over a thousand jutsu: Kakashi, the copy ninja'."

Sakura nearly smiled at the memories that the sentence brought up unintentionally.

Back when she was older, she was called the replacement copy nin. Her analyzing skills and perfect chakra control made it easy for her to copy jutsus, no matter what the level. When she found out that she was in every single bingo book, she didn't know whether to be touched, or terrified.

"I need to exterminate the old man," Zabuza explained. "_Now_."

The three genin jumped into position, Sakura on Zabuza's right, Sasuke in the middle, and Naruto on the left, all holding weapons to defend their client.

Unknowingly to all 5 of them, the Sakura guarding the bridge builder wasn't the real Sakura. She was just an expertly made clone that had enough chakra to pose as her. The _real_ Sakura was hidden, masking her chakra skillfully, leaning back and watching the whole fight play out.

'_This is going to get __**real**__ ugly with me around...'_

She smirked.

'_But it's going to be __**fun**__.'_

~x~

**This was amusing to type. xDDDDD**

**Sorry for such a long wait. If you didn't read my profile, then I shall tell you now that I was on a small vacation for a few days, and there wasn't internet connection... so... yep. xD**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Ja Ne~!**

**To the reviewers...**

**AMC- OMG yeah! I **_**really**_** didn't like Sakura as a fangirl, because she was so obsessive! Because of her past, everyone now is making fun of her for holding on to her dream of bringing Sasuke back. They're calling her a crybaby who won't let go of a stupid crush, and it's making me kind of mad. But ANYWAYS.**

**Animefan0000012345- First of all-- I LOVE YOUR NAME! Like, the numbers after it. xDDD Second of all, I don't know if I can do that... because Zabuza didn't exactly learn to accept that Haku was like his brother until they were both dying.**

**Hazel817- Hahaha yeah. The anger issues are something that make up Sakura's unique character, and I can't bear to take that away from her, and of course she's too mature! She's like... 17 on the inside, and have faced the death of all of her friends. **

**WhatChuuKnowBoutMe- Yeah, I had to put that in to show that some small things are changing for some reason, but when I imagined Sakura shorter than Naruto, I was starting to wonder if that could be possible, because girls start their growth spurts before guys... and... yeah...**

**Your Hoshi- I love strong Sakura too. ;)**

**Thanks for the review! See ya next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The last chapter was horrible, horrible, horrible, because I didn't read over it and edit. When I finally did though, my jaw dropped at the insane amount of errors I made. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little... but still, sorry for that. **

**Thank you all for your kind reviews... and somehow reviewing an hour right after I updated- how do you guys do that?**

**This chapter came up sooo late... I'm sorry. I'll make it a bit longer than all the other chapters. After this, I'll try to go back to my daily schedule of typing up at least 5,000 words a day. **

**(By the way, this chapter was too long to proofread... so... if there are any mistakes, SORRY!)**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

**~x~**

Leaning down into a squat, Zabuza's eyes flashed in amusement.

"So, I'm going to have to eliminate _you_ first, eh Kakashi? So be it."

The killer jumped elsewhere, and to everyone except Kakashi and Sakura, he was gone in a flash from his spot on the tree to standing on the water.

"He's over there!" Naruto exclaimed, turning his head backwards since the water was behind him. "Standing on the water!"

Water particles were circling around him. One arm was up in the air while the other was held in front of his mouth, both hands in the seal of the tiger.

Sakura narrowed her eyes.

_'The Hidden Mist jutsu...'_

"He's building up a _huge_ amount of chakra!" Kakashi observed with wide eyes.

As expected, the water and mist started swirling around Zabuza even faster and the wall got thicker as he whispered, "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

Now he had completely disappeared with the mist; not a trace left behind.

"He vanished!" Naruto mumbled in awe.

"He'll come after _me_ first..." Kakashi reassured them.

"Isn't Zabuza Momochi the one who used to be in the Hidden Mist Assassination Unit? The master of the silent killing technique?" the Sakura clone asked.

"Right," Kakashi backed up her info. "As the name suggests, it happens in an instant, without sound or warning of any kind. So fast that you pass from this life without realizing what has happened. The sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so _don't lower your guard._"

The group around Tazuna tensed.

"If we fail, we only lose our lives," Kakashi noted casually.

"We. Won't. Fail," clone Sakura gritted out through her teeth. "Don't mention failing in my presence."

It was rather rude, but right now she was on edge, and failing was the last thing she wanted to think about.

"The mist is getting thicker and thicker!" Naruto panicked, using all his might trying to see past 5 yards.

From the bushes, Sakura thought about using her sword to cut through the mist, but then decided not to, since it would give away her position.

Closing her eyes, she silently probed around with her senses to feel out the opponent.

_'There! Hidden in the tree! He's... he's making a clone!'_

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean... the mist is ever-present," Tazuna explained.

The mist became so thick that Kakashi actually disappeared from their sight.

"Eight points..."

Zabuza's voice came from out of nowhere, making the smaller genin shake- Sakura from coldness actually.

Being a medic, Sakura already knew these points. Her clone couldn't help but list them with the mist nin.

"Larynx..." he started.

"Spine..." she added.

There was a bit of silence, so she continued.

"Lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys... heart..."

A small pause and then his voice rang out, "You seem to know a lot about killing, princess."

"By the way," Sakura informed in a small voice. "There are technically nine points..."

"Then tell me... which would be the fastest kill point?"

Nearly everyone froze, but Sakura went on, still into the conversation.

"Depends on how hard you hit each point."

The killer chuckled.

There was a small moment of silence until Kakashi hunched his body and let his chakra fly. The swirling chakra quickly blew away the mist, so now the genin could see their sensei again.

Beside her, Sakura's clone could feel Sasuke's apprehension towards the two jounin and the killing intent flowing out from both their bodies. His shaky hand lowered down to his kunai, alarming the girl.

_'Is he going to commit suicide?'_ she shrieked inside her mind.

Her clone grabbed his arm, stopping his progress.

"What are you _thinking_, Sasuke?" she hissed at him. "You have a whole future ahead of you if we complete this mission. Do you want to ruin your chance- and all of our chances- of surviving?"

He bit his lip and gazed at her in fear. Not of her, but of the idea that two jounins were going on an all out killing spree.

"Sasuke!" the two turned their heads towards their sensei. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my _life_. All of you. I will _not_ allow my comrades to die!"

He turned around in a reassuring smile.

"Trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Zabuza's voice came from right behind them.

He faced Sakura and Sasuke's backs while _his_ back was to Naruto. He stood right in front of the bridge builder.

"It's over."

Kakashi spun around, his sharingan spinning. In a blink, he was in the middle of the group, pushing everyone outwards away from the Momochi.

Once everyone could see the two jounins, it seems like it was Kakashi who prevailed. He had pushed a kunai into Zabuza's stomach, but something was off. Instead of blood, _water_ was dripping out of the wound.

Kakashi noticed something and murmured, "Who...?"

Sakura's clone lifted her hand up and scratched the back of her head.

"Hehehe... Sorry sensei... I freaked."

Sharingan eyes blinked at the only girl on his team, and then turned his attention back to what he had noticed. A senbon was sticking out of the jugular vein in the water clone's neck, right on the bulls eye. The aim was _perfect_.

Another Zabuza appeared behind the sharingan user, making his focus shift.

"Kakashi-sensei! Behind you!" Naruto hollered.

The clone that Kakashi stabbed turned to water, and the Zabuza behind him swung his sword, slicing right through the Konoha jounin. The man smiled evilly as Kakashi's body was shredded, but then his eyes widened as the body turned to water as well.

The Sakura from the bushes smirked.

_'That's my sensei for you. Copies your moves in an instant when you least expect it. A petty thing like mist can't stop him.'_

A kunai was held to Zabuza's throat.

"Don't move," Kakashi threatened. "_Now_ it's over. You're finished."

Emerald eyes narrowed.

_'Another water clone...'_

"All right!" Naruto yelled in victory.

Sakura's clone shook her head.

"Never think you win until you're 100% sure that the enemy is completely and absolutely _dead_."

Zabuza chuckled.

"You really don't get it, do you? Your technique is nothing but a trick. I'll _never_ be defeated by a mere copy cat ninja like _you_."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"You _are_ full of surprises though," the mist nin went on. "You'd already copied my water clone jutsu when you made your little speech. Skillfully executed. You made your clone say those words to draw my attention. While _you_ were hidden in the mist... waiting for me to make my move. Nice try... but..."

Yet _another_ Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi.

"I'm _not_ that easy to fool!"

Kakashi quickly destroyed the Zabuza clone in front of him, which exploded into water.

"HEY! THAT WAS A WATER CLONE TOO!" Naruto yelled in shock.

The real Zabuza swung his sword at Kakashi, who ducked. Switching hands, Zabuza pushed off his sword for extra power and kicked. In that blow, team 7's sensei went flying.

The killer pulled his heavy sword out of the ground and charged for the silver haired jounin's body in the air, but then skidded to a stop when he saw tiny spikes scattered on the ground.

"Makibishi spikes! Trying to slow me down... Hn. Foolish."

Kakashi's body fell into the water right when Zabuza disappeared from his spot.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, worried for his teacher.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in a bit of frustration.

"He has good physical skill too..."

Kakashi's head and torso popped out of the water, his face observant. He stared the water down in confusion, but before he could make a move, Zabuza appeared behind him.

"Ha! Fool! Water Prison Jutsu!"

He held his hands out above his opponent's head and Kakashi was suddenly trapped in a large sphere of water.

Sakura shook her head.

_'Escaping into the water was a bad mistake, Kakashi.'_

"This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel. It's hard to _fight_ when you can't _move_. So much for the famous Kakashi," Zabuza chuckled. "I'll finish you off later, but first... your little friends will have to be eliminated."

He held his free hand up to his mouth and made the tiger seal.

"Water Clone Jutsu!"

Sakura thought about going back to her place with her real body, but then decided against it knowing that there wasn't going to be much major damage... her clone might not be able to control her temper though... for some reason, her clones usually had a bit more of an attitude than she did.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Naruto's small whimper. Turning her head, she saw that the water in front of them was rising to take the shape of a clone.

"You think that wearing a headband makes you a ninja... when you hover between the line of life and death so many times it doesn't faze you... _then_ you may be called ninja," Zabuza's clone hissed.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

_'Boy do I know how you feel... those little academy children don't even know the horrors of being a ninja... but I've actually grown to become interested in the things that fly out when you hit certain places... now __**that's**__ amusing.'_

"When you become so _deadly_ your profile is entered in my bingo book... then you _may_ have earned the title, 'ninja'," he held his hands up in that annoying tiger seal again and the mist started rolling in once more. "To call upstarts like _you_ 'ninja' is a joke."

The mist now completely shrouded his figure, making Naruto shiver with fear.

"He disappeared!"

A foot appeared in front of Naruto's face and sent him flying backwards.

Once again, Sakura had to hurt herself in order to prevent the full on bull of rage she was about to unleash on the poor mist nin.

Naruto's blue headband flew off his head and into the air, and hit the ground once its owner hit the ground. Just then, a foot stepped on it, smothering it into the ground.

"You're just _brats_," Zabuza continued.

Kakashi made a slight growling noise before he shouted, "Listen! Take the bridge builder and _run_! You _can't_ win this fight! He's using all his power to keep me in this prison, so he's only using his water clone, but the clone can't go far from his real body! If you can get away from him, he can't follow! Now _RUN_!"

Sakura's clone scoffed and didn't move from her spot, stubborn as ever.

_'We're going to have to split up, and I don't think the others would be able to hold on for their own. I might be fine, but Zabuza would wipe everyone else out. No chance am I going to run like a scaredy-cat anymore. I'm staying! The only chance for the other's sure survival would be if Kakashi was rescued.'_

She could feel Sasuke looking around, probably the same idea in his head.

"We've got to do it!" he suddenly shouted out loud.

Zabuza's clone blinked at Sasuke and reached back for his sword while Sasuke charged head on at the enemy, throwing shuriken while he was at it.

The clone merely deflected the shuriken with his sword and looked up to see the boy aiming for his head with a punch.

"Too easy," was all the clone said before his hand snapped out to grab Sasuke's neck.

He gave Sasuke a few seconds to struggle before throwing his body on the ground.

"Oo. That gotta hurt," Sakura's clone winced, not really used to caring for Sasuke's well-being anymore. Usually, he was the enemy for her... but now he was on her team again.

_'Ahhhh! This is so confusing!'_

"He's got Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, surprised that someone actually landed a hit on his powerful teammate.

He shakily turned his head to see Zabuza standing in front of him prepared to kill.

At first Naruto was frozen in fear for a few seconds, but then his senses came back to him, and his senses told him to _run_! Turning around, Naruto used his bandaged hand to balance himself, but then he stopped in place and stared at his hand. Sakura couldn't clearly see what was happening, but then Naruto turned his gaze to his trampled headband, and she watched in fascination as his eyes were glazed over with memories, memories that she could almost see flashing through his eyes.

Then, he stood up on wobbly knees, in a heroic position that greatly annoyed her with his fist clenched. That position annoyed her _so_ much... even if he was a determined ninja, he didn't always have to clench his hands so much...

Like the headstrong boy he was, Naruto went on a full sprint towards the enemy's back, yelling a battle cry.

"Huh? Naruto! NO!" Kakashi shouted from his spot in the prison.

Sakura clearly remembered _this_ part from her past. Her muscles relaxed from her rigid position as she watched the scene.

Naruto went headfirst for the enemy- who grumbled, "Fool,"- and Naruto was kicked back into the dust... but he didn't do that without a good purpose. When he pushed himself up again, his Konoha headband was in his hand.

Everyone stared at him possibly with the same mixed feelings Sakura had long ago. That of respect and... probably concern as well. Seriously... what normal genin would be okay after being hit to the ground?

Standing up with his hair covering his eyes and blood leaking out of his mouth, Naruto spoke.

"Hey you... the freak with no eyebrows... put _this_ in your bingo book. The ninja that will become hokage of the village hidden in the leaves..." Naruto took a breath and wrapped his headband where it belonged. "...Never backs down! His name's Naruto Uzumaki!"

Never taking his bright eyes off the opponent, Naruto called back, "Sasuke! Listen up, can you hear me?"

"Yeah I hear you," was the reply.

"I've got a plan."

"Che. So you're finally thinking about teamwork, huh?"

"Ok... guys... let's go wild!"

Sighing, Sakura rested her weight on one leg.

_'Lemme guess... in this plan, I'm going to be the one protecting the bridge builder because I'm too 'weak' and 'slow' to be actually fighting in this mess.'_

Taking a look at all the members in her team, Sakura called out, "Oi! Kakashi-sensei! Can you hold up in that water sphere of doom?"

Kakashi sweat dropped at her nickname for the water prison but nodded in response.

"Good."

The two boys who were standing in front of her didn't react at all to her shout, but instead acted as if nothing had happened between the little pause they made.

"Ready? Let's bring this guy down!" Naruto encouraged.

For the tenth time that day, Zabuza did that dark little chuckle and continued to be condescending towards the little tykes.

"Big words for such a little man. You think a plan's going to keep you in the game?"

"What are you doing? I told you to run!" Kakashi shouted from his little bubble. "This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now take off! This mission was not to prove how brave you are! It's to save the bridge builder! Stay on mission!"

Turning around hesitantly, Naruto asked, "Bridge builder?"

Tazuna thought for a moment with his eyes shaded by his hat... then he made a bold decision.

"Well I... I guess... this all happened because of me. Because of my desire to live... but I won't let that stand in your way now." Tazuna lifted his head, his eyes determined and sure. "Forget about me and do what you have to do! Go ahead and fight to save your sensei!"

Sasuke smirked.

"Alright, you hear that?"

Naruto grinned back.

"Yeah, believe it! You ready?"

A small chuckle flew out of Zabuza's mouth, and then escalated into actual laughter, but instead of the bubbly feeling it should send, it was skepticism and malice.

"You really haven't learned _anything_ have you? Still playing your little game… pretending to be ninja."

_'We pretend well, don't we?'_

Sakura nearly giggled.

"When _I_ was your age, this hand had already crushed many opponents," their enemy lifted a hand with long lost memories in his eyes.

Many gasped.

Sakura almost yawned. She wasn't doing anything, and it was getting kind of boring.

"Zabuza... the demon," Kakashi growled.

"Oh... so _I_ was in _your_ book too," the man observed without turning his head.

"Long ago in the village hidden in the mist, also known as 'Mud Mist Village'... before a student could become a ninja, there was one final test," Kakashi explained.

Now Zabuza's head turned towards Kakashi.

"Hm? You know about the graduation exam?"

Cocking his head, Naruto asked, "What graduation exam?"

Zabuza chuckled yet again.

"What's the big idea?" Naruto asked. "_We_ had graduation tests too!"

The demon's laughter became louder at the blonde's lack of knowledge.

Sakura feigned the part of the girl who suddenly remembered something from her long list of books and a finger went to her chin.

"Oh! Was it the test where... you had to kill off the other students in order to pass?"

Everyone turned their shocked heads towards the pink haired girl.

She mentally gulped.

_'Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.'_

"You say that so calmly princess," Zabuza narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well... it's not exactly a calm matter... but if you're not calm, then you will be driven crazy by the idea of killing your friends." She paused at the look of confusion on Naruto's face. "Here. Imagine our team. Eating together... training together... and then comes the final exam. It's kind of like it, only they change the rules. Kill, or be killed. You can't exactly _stop_ when your opponent is still breathing. We were your friends and we shared our dreams with you."

Her face darkened.

"Now it was _us_, or _you_."

"Exactly..." Zabuza chuckled again.

"10 years ago... the village hidden in the mist... the graduation exam... _changed_," Kakashi explained. "One year before, a dark evil had filled the school with terror. Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja approached the class and took down 100 other students."

Sakura cringed. She could nearly hear the moans of pain from the students still hanging on a thread of life, just waiting for death to wash over them.

There was a pregnant pause as everyone stared as Zabuza.

His voice broke the silence.

"It felt so... _good_!"

Naruto and Sasuke widened their eyes at his answer, and after a blink, Sasuke was suddenly elbowed by the mist nin.

Naruto let out a yell as he watched Sasuke get trampled by the demon.

Zabuza appeared above Sasuke and lifted his elbow up high before slamming it back down on Sasuke's stomach. Blood flew out of Sasuke's mouth and Kakashi watched in panic feeling helpless since he couldn't do anything.

Sakura couldn't stand it. She squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands on her ears.

Zabuza put his foot on top of Sasuke's stomach and pushed down, making Sasuke squeeze his eyes shut in pain.

"You're _nothing._"

_'No... I... can't interfere... Sasuke... Sasuke's going to be just fine... he... I mean he was alive enough during the chunin exams... right? Do not interfere... do __**not**__ interfere... do not interfere...'_

Apparently Sakura's clone didn't have the reason Sakura had. She was ready to land a fast flying kick on the man, Sakura could recognize her stance. There was no other choice... if she didn't want her own strength to be discovered, she was going to have to dispel the jutsu!

_Poof!_

Sakura's clone poofed away right as she jumped up from her spot, and the real Sakura teleported over to where her clone originally was. With a quick glance around, she saw that no one had noticed her split second disappearance and let out a small sigh or relief.

She looked up just in time to see Zabuza surrounded by Naruto's shadow clones.

The clones all held up kunais and declared, "Here we go!"

From his position on the ground, Sasuke's head shakily lifted- with a few groans of pain- Naruto clones in the air all aiming for Zabuza.

All of them landed in a circular dog pile that held him down.

The clones shook with strain, and there was a small quake before the clones went flying in all directions.

"His skills are too advanced," Tazuna exclaimed from the side. "He's too powerful, we can't defeat him!"

Sakura elbowed him softly and grumbled, "Way to think optimistically."

As she said this, Naruto clones were popping away with a small poof, but the real Naruto wasn't discouraged by the fact that he was sliding on his back.

Instead he mumbled, "I'm not giving up! I've still got _this_!"

He was digging inside his backpack for something, and when he found it, he yelled, "Sasuke!" and threw it to his ally.

With a- rather loud- grunt, Sasuke caught the weapon. It turned out to be a Fuma Shuriken, but Sasuke noticed something right when he caught it. A new gleam in his eye appeared, and the Fuma Shuriken unraveled itself to be a large shuriken, but each blade was like the blade of a slightly curved sword.

Sasuke held the shuriken in front of him- _'Probably for dramatic effect or something,'_ Sakura thought- and yelled, "Demon Wind Shuriken! Windmill of Shadows!"

"Hoo-ray," Sakura monotonously cheered, a fist lazily raised in the air.

Tazuna sweat dropped. Sakura's face was showing absolute boredom, eyes wandering everywhere in a day-dreamy state. She was also leaning against a tree, making the whole 'boredom pose' complete.

"A shuriken?" Zabuza's clone asked, amusement clearly shown in his voice. "You can't touch me with _that_."

Despite this, Sasuke jumped up in the air and flung the shuriken at the clone.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

_'Why did you have to do a flip while you jump?'_ and then she thought, _'Ha! I'm a total hypocrite.'_

The enemy clone didn't even move, completely ready to evade the attack, but his eyes widened when the shuriken curved around him and towards the _real_ Zabuza.

"So... you pass the clone and aim for my real body. Smart."

He caught the Fuma Shuriken with a slight 'clang'.

"But not smart enough! ...Huh?"

The last comment was made when he saw a second shuriken flying his direction, slicing through the water.

He waited until the last minute, then jumped up to dodge it.

"I _told_ you a shuriken can't touch me!"

Sakura sighed.

_'Idiot. Deflect it, not dodge it.'_

The second shuriken that he had dodged poofed into the real Naruto.

Zabuza turned his head in surprise.

"_What_?"

The boy pulled out a shuriken and threw it at Zabuza.

"Eat this!"

The shuriken was aimed perfectly for Zabuza's upper bicep, making him release the water prison containing Kakashi in order to dodge the weapon.

Now Sakura was sliding down the tree in utter exasperation.

_'If I was in Zabuza's place, I'd __**duck**__.'_

She couldn't help it.

"Ba-ka!" she hissed.

Now Zabuza was spinning the Fuma Shuriken, the fury on his face was for Naruto.

"I'll _destroy_ you!"

Sakura couldn't hold it back. She had to do _something_. Even if that 'something' was already going to be stopped.

Kakashi was right about to stop the weapon from reaching Naruto, but then suddenly thousands of senbon were fired from the sky.

"Ninja Art: Senbon Rainstorm!"

"There are too many...!" Kakashi whispered, and lifted his hands in front of his face to protect himself.

No pain.

He lowered his arms to see Zabuza now a distance apart from him, a few senbon needles stuck to his arms. Kakashi's eyes widened. Now he knew why he wasn't hurt. Around him was a barrier made of water, so when the senbon needles hit the water, it just sunk down harmlessly. It was like half of the water prison.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice rang out.

Kakashi glanced at Naruto to see that there was a water shield around him as well. His gray eyes flew over to Sakura and he saw the source of the attack.

"Sakura...?"

Said female had an umbrella still spinning above her in midair, and she dove down to catch it while it fell.

_'I can't be perfect. Act at least a bit like a clumsy genin. With the ability to perform the Senbon Shower... maybe I should've done something closer to my level... I was reckless... can't let that happen again...'_

With that in mind, she flopped down on her bottom and shrugged.

"Psh. If you guys leave me out, I'm going to act on my own. Don't blame me if I do something completely stupid."

The needles unexpectedly fell out of Zabuza's arms, sliding deep down into the water.

"So you're little pretend ninja saved you with their rookie plans," Zabuza growled. "So what?"

Kakashi was proud. Even under his mask.

"No, Naruto's plan was excellent and very well planned out," he protested. "Naruto, you've really grown, haven't you?"

Naruto laughed in victory.

"I knew I couldn't beat him with my shadow clones; that was just to distract him! While he fought the clones, _I_ turned into the Demon Wind Shuriken!" Naruto explained happily. "He didn't know _what_ to do, believe it. I used one of the clones to transform into the shuriken. When I threw it to Sasuke, it looked like a _real_ shuriken. Sasuke could tell it was me in a second. He spun around so no one would see, and pulled out his _own_ shuriken! Now there were _two_ shuriken. One was real, one was _me_! I hid in the shadow of the _real_ shuriken, and my target was the real Zabuza. Of course I knew that I couldn't fight Zabuza myself. That wasn't in the game plan. I just wanted to get in there and break up his water prison. I didn't know that his clone would be wrecked too! Ha! That was a bonus, believe it!"

"Don't brag. You just lucked out," Sasuke smirked.

It was obvious that his ego was probably stroked by the small victory.

"The whole thing was just a fluke!" Tazuna hollered in anger from his spot.

He was worried for his life, and that made him rather cranky.

"Hn. I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison," Zabuza grumbled, probably trying to cover up his screw up.

"Don't flatter yourself. You weren't distracted, you were forced to let go," Kakashi glowered.

Sakura played with a leaf tucked between her index finger and her middle finger. The leaf suddenly went up in flames, its ashes blowing free.

_'Kakashi's determined to make his male students look good. In order to do that, I'm ignored.' _**(A/N: See 'Sakura's Frustration' on profile)**

The leaves around her started burning as well, but not enough for anyone to notice.

_'I really feel loved now, Kakashi. Thanks.'_

She looked up again to see Zabuza glaring at Kakashi with a vein throbbing on his temple.

The demon made a hand sign, and his opponent's sharingan flashed to life.

"Ushi, Saru, Ju, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tura, Inu, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, I, Hitsuji, Ne," Zabuza started chanting while making hand signs.

Kakashi copied perfectly.

"Ushi, Saru, Ju, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tura, Inu, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, I, Hitsuji, Ne."

Now their voices and movements were in sync, one mirroring the other without a single mess up or hesitation.

"Jin, Saru, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mi, Ne, Saru, U, I, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ne, Ushi, Saru, Tori, Jin, Ne, I..."

Even after their voices stopped, their hands went on.

The water beneath them was starting to become unsettled and violent.

They finished at the exact same time with a final, "Tori!"

The water in between the two started to rise- Kakashi's side a bit smaller, but caught up with the other side quickly.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The water formed large water dragons with glowing yellow eyes. The swirled around each other in the air and then attacked each other. Just then, Sasuke's Fuma Shuriken came out of nowhere and sabotaged Zabuza's water dragon. It sliced through its neck, making a wave above Zabuza's head. Unfortunately for team 7, he jumped out of the water just in time.

The weapon sank into the water, but this attack didn't stop the disturbance of the water. Other waves rose and crashed down on Naruto, and the water- with nowhere else to go- flooded to shore. Right before the water hit the bridge builder, he felt a hand grab his wrist and pull him up above the waves. He looked above him to see Sakura holding on to his arm. To prevent a rough landing, she used her umbrella to float them back down slowly.

It turns out that Zabuza's water dragon had recovered from the hit and grew another head, so the jutsus were still fighting each other.

The dragons lunged at each other, trying to be the dominant one, and the collisions of their attacks made streams of water fly off in different directions.

Naruto's head surfaced with a large gulp of air and gaped at the two jounins.

Kakashi was using a kunai to defend against Zabuza's large sword. His kunai blade was pressed against the huge sword blade.

Sakura cocked her head to one side.

_'Now that's barely fair.'_

Zabuza's eyes narrowed at the sight of the sharingan, and the pink haired girl could see the wheels turning in his head.

All of a sudden, something else caught her attention.

_'Haku...'_

She turned to see him right there... on the tree branch behind him, and he looked down at her. Behind his mask, she was almost sure that he looked surprised.

_'Shoot. Shouldn't have looked...'_

It was already too late.

"Haku...?" his name slipped out by mistake as a breath.

Sakura slapped her hand over her mouth.

_'Did he hear that?'_

The sound of metal sliding against metal brought her eyes back to her sensei. Instead of them being face to face, the two had jumped away from each other.

They ran around each other in a perfect circle and stopped at the exact same time. Their arms went up simultaneously, and Sakura could see that Zabuza was rather freaked out.

"He was not just following..." Tazuna's eyes were locked on the battle before him. "He was the same way at the same time!"

The jounins' arm lowered at the same time and Kakashi spoke, "Going to do next."

The stunned look on Zabuza's face told everyone that it was exactly what he was thinking about.

They changed position and Kakashi asked, "It makes you furious, doesn't it?"

"Ha! All you're doing it copying me, like a monkey!" Zabuza spat, but it was to cover up his own nervousness. "You can't beat me with cheap tricks! I'll crush you!"

The last two sentences were said by both of them at the exact same time. It was a stupendous 'Jinx! You owe me a soda!' moment.

Zabuza's eyes widened- Sakura almost expected them to fall out.

"When I'm finished with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!" Zabuza hissed while making hand signs.

He suddenly paused in the middle and his eyes had a strange haunted look in them.

_'Hm. Genjutsu. Nice, Kakashi.'_

"Water Style: Water Vortex Jutsu!" her sensei finished.

The tomoes in Kakashi's sharingan began to spin.

"What?" Zabuza seemed _really_ shocked now. "Impossible!"

A thin strand of water started circling in front of Kakashi, but the water quickly gathered until it was a large ball of spinning water.

Zabuza was only able to let out a roar before the spinning vortex was upon him, his body being thrown around under the water.

On the outside, the jutsu looked like a giant water tornado that was turned sideways, sliding forward in the direction of the tip.

Since Naruto didn't have the chance to get out of the water, he was being splashed around by the water as well, but the difference was that his head was still above water.

Luckily, he was thrown on shore, and to prevent from being dragged down again, Naruto grabbed on a branch from a short tree that conveniently grew there.

Sakura spun around to see Haku disappearing in a flurry of wind.

_'Haku... going to save Zabuza once more, ne?'_

In a rush of water, the wielder of the giant sword was slammed against a tree. If that wasn't enough, four kunais flew through the air and hit their target, embedding themselves into Zabuza's body.

He groaned in pain, blood flowing out of his wounds.

"You're finished," Kakashi was on the lowest branch on the tree that his opponent was leaning against.

The water slowly receded and then sunk back into the earth leaving a lot of debris behind from trees.

The only thing Zabuza wanted to ask was, "How? Can you... see into the future?"

_Stupid._

Kakashi answered, "Yes. This is your last battle. _Ever_."

_Lie._

Before Kakashi could do anything, two senbon nailed Zabuza in the neck, making his body fall to the ground.

Everyone turned their heads towards the figure standing on the tree.

_'Haku. You're here. Welcome to the battle.'_

"Hm. You are right. It _was_ his last battle," the stranger observed.

Naruto pulled himself up to a standing position with help from the branch and gazed up at Haku with his teeth clenched.

Kakashi jumped down to Zabuza's side, and keeping a wary distance, he used two fingers to check for Zabuza's pulse.

He exhaled loudly before announcing, "No vital signs," and turned to look up at the one who made Zabuza fall.

Haku lowered his head down as a bow.

"Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time... waiting for this chance... to _finally_ take him down."

Kakashi analyzed the boy.

"By your mask, I can see that you're a tracker ninja from The Village Hidden in the Mist."

Haku's head rose.

"Impressive. You're well informed."

Naruto ran in front of his teammates.

"Ah! A tracker!"

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose at her friend's lack of knowledge.

"Naruto, you don't even know what that is. You missed the lesson on it as usual. The tracker ninja have a special role. Try coming to class sometime. When a rogue ninja breaks away from his village, he carries all kinds of secrets with him; the secrets of his people. Trackers are especially trained to hunt down these ninja and eliminate them. _That_ way, the secrets of their people remain secrets."

"That's correct. I'm a member of the elite tracking unit from The Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza."

"From your size and voice... he must be the same age as Naruto," Kakashi observed. "Yet he's an elite assassin... he's no ordinary kid_._"

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura sighed. "From your experience, you should know very well that there are no ninja that can be described as an 'ordinary kid'."

Naruto ran until he was a few feet from where Haku was standing and started to make strange noises.

Sakura rose an eyebrow.

_'That's the weird noises he makes when he's mad. It's like... inhaling air while clenching your teeth... but Naruto makes those noises every few seconds. Rather annoying.'_

Naruto looked from the body of Zabuza to the tracker nin and continued to make the low growling noises.

Then finally, Naruto held up a fist and demanded, "What is this? Who do you think you are?"

He was breathing heavily now, a finger pointed at Haku.

"Did you hear me?"

"Stop it Naruto," Sakura snapped, now standing up with leaf ashes in her hand. "There's no need to verbally fight him."

"That's not the point, did you see what he did? Just like _that_?" Naruto turned his whole body so that he was facing Sakura. "Zabuza was _huge_ and _powerful_ like some kind of monster! And this kid, who is no bigger than me... he brought down Zabuza with _one move_! Like it was nothing! I mean... what does that make _us_? We're just fumbling around. We don't know _anything_! How can I accept that?"

"You don't _have_ to accept it. What about the time I took out that man with one punch? You didn't make a racket about that. In fact, you seemed enthusiastic to learn that move," Sakura shot back.

Naruto didn't notice that Kakashi was at his side until Kakashi put his hand in Naruto's blonde hair.

"It already happened. In this world, there are kids who are younger than you... but are stronger than _me_," he explained.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

Sakura flinched.

_'Itachi...'_

Naruto lowered his eyes and fought to keep a bored looking face.

Haku rose his arms and the wind surrounded him again, making him disappear from his spot, and he reappeared by Zabuza's side.

The tracker slung one of Zabuza's arm around his shoulder and supported the body weight.

"Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets inside this body. I must not allow for it to get in the wrong hands. Please excuse me. Farewell."

Sakura smiled at his disappearing figure and mumbled, "Dewa, mata chikai uchini, Haku-kun." **(Translation: See you soon, Haku.)**

It might've been her imagination, but right before he was completely gone, he saluted to her.

"He disappeared!" Naruto exclaimed, running over to the spot where Haku had left with Zabuza in tow.

Kakashi slipped the headband back over his left eye and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"He's gone, Naruto. Let it go."

In anger, Naruto fell to his knees and started to punch the ground.

"What... are we doing here? We're nothing! I _can't_ believe it!"

Sakura felt the anger bubble up inside at Naruto's actions. He was degrading both himself and the team.

_'Hm... pain... or sympathy? Pain... or sympathy?'_

Naruto saw a pair of legs appear in front of him and looked up.

_'Umm... both.'_

Emerald eyes blazed in fury at the crouching boy, and whacked him on the forehead.

"Naruto, you _baka_! You can't just be discouraged with every difficult situation. We're _ninja_. Did you expect our missions to always be simple? Do you _want_ to lower your pride for both yourself _and_ your team? We are here because we have a mission to be bodyguards for our fellow bridge builder. If we were nothing... then we'd still be sitting in our seats back in the academy. Haku is more skillful than you. So what? We all accelerate in something!"

"He's better at skill while you're better... at encouragement. If we lose your hope for the team, then we've already lost the whole mission. You're the beacon of hope for all of us. If your light suddenly blinks out, then we've lost. No point in going any farther, so..._** CALM DOWN!**_"

Now that all the anger was out, Sakura leaned back looking refreshed. She grabbed Naruto's elbow and swiftly pulled him up to his feet.

"We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the bridge builder... to his bridge," Kakashi reminded everyone.

Tazuna adjusted his hat and let out a laugh.

"Sorry I caused all this trouble for ya, but... uh, you can rest at _my_ house when we get to the village."

"Alright. Let's get a move on!" Kakashi announced, and turned to go.

Knowing what was going to happen next, Sakura was in front of her sensei in a flash. Right on cue, Kakashi froze in mid-step with his eyes wide open with shock and pain. He fell right into Sakura's outstretched arms.

There were a few shocked and alarmed cries of, "Kakashi-sensei!" as Sakura tugged him into the same position that Haku put Zabuza in.

"Here. I'll drag him from behind. Naruto and Sasuke, you guys in front."

There was a slight edge in Sakura's voice that made the boys very reluctant to disobey, so they both nodded and ran to position.

_'Kakashi, you're really heavy... get on your own legs and walk, won't ya?'_

~x~

"Hm. I like your house, Tazuna," Sakura complimented as she looked around at the furniture and decorations.

"Thank you. You're sensei is resting right now. He's still asleep, so don't wake him up," Tazuna replied.

The girl gave a curt wave of her hand to acknowledge his warning and went back to inspecting the seaside house. Sighing, the bridge builder walked out of the room mumbling something unintelligent.

Mischievous emerald eyes secretly watched his departure until they were sure that he wasn't going to return any time soon. Then, the owner of those eyes silently made a clone of herself and snuck into the room that her sensei was resting in.

A few moments later, Sakura was kneeling over her teacher, trying to see what had made him collapse. In the end, she just suspected that it was from overexertion. Kakashi _was_ getting kind of old. Of course, not the overuse of physical strength, but overuse of the sharingan. After all, he wasn't born with the eye.

Rolling her eyes at her sensei's idiocy, Sakura prepared for the healing session to begin. No one in this house really wanted to see Kakashi in a cast and crutches, right? Slender, experienced hands positioned themselves over the patient's forehead and began to glow, but then she felt the patient's body stir, and she froze.

_'He's waking up! Got to think and hide, got to think and hide!'_

At the genin level, Sakura was only supposed to be able to heal minor scratches... not heal a collapse caused by overuse of a doujutsu! Outside the door to the room were footsteps getting louder and closer.

The wheels in the medic's head were spinning like crazy... until an idea so obvious sprung out at her.

_'Genjutsu!'_

A blur of hand signs and she was gone from everyone's sights. To them, she was the clone still in the living room, gaping at the strangely amazing things that they bought for the house.

Kakashi groaned and sluggishly opened his eyes.

Inari's mother entered the room and gazed in concern at Kakashi.

"Waking up, huh? You alright?"

Another groan.

"Been better," was the reply.

Kakashi sat up with much strain.

"It'll be a week before I can move normally."

Inari's mother stared at him sternly.

"I see. It's better if you _don't_ move, so just lie down."

"Alright."

With a sigh, Kakashi sunk back down under the green and white blanket.

Just then, team 7- along with Tazuna- came into the room.

"Look! Sensei's coming around!" Naruto observed.

Sakura's clone, without turning her body, rose an eyebrow at the real Sakura who was kneeling beside Kakashi. The real Sakura shrugged and patted at the empty spot next to her.

For some strange reason, all of Sakura's clones could see her when she puts up a genjutsu- no matter how powerful. It was pretty useful though.

Sakura's clone sat down and used concern as a reason to sit by her sensei's side.

"Kakashi-sensei, I know that the sharingan harms you if you use it too long."

Kakashi mumbled a weak, "Thank you for your concern."

The clone put her hands on her hips.

"I was going to tell you that you shouldn't be such an idiot next time. We can hold our own for... so long. Don't be such a paranoid person!"

A chuckle.

"Sorry."

The clone closed her eyes in irritation and bonked him on the head.

"Sorry doesn't heal you up."

Tazuna was standing a bit back, wiping his face with a towel.

"Well, he _did_ wipe out one of the most powerful assassins, so we'll be safe for a while."

The real Sakura couldn't help but scoff.

_'Yet we're still going to see Haku and Zabuza in the flesh.'_

"What about the tracker kid? The boy with the mask," she _had_ to ask.

Sasuke and Naruto probably didn't know that much about ANBU or anything...

As expected, Kakashi answered.

"He's from the Elite Tracking Unit from The Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi."

"And... what do they do?" Sakura asked while having a little flashback about the missions she and her squad had to complete. They weren't all that pleasant, but they were sometimes kind of invigorating.

"The ANBU Black Ops, also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets: Ninjutsu, chakra, medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If his enemy finds them, his people will be in grave danger. For instance, if I die at the hands of my enemy, he would try to analyze my sharingan. In the worst case, my entire jutsu would be stolen and used against our whole village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this; to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate _every_ trace of his existence- that's their specialty."

Kakashi sat up again, on hand over the uncovered side of his face, his eye peeking out from between two fingers.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Naruto asked from the sidelines.

Sakura could tell why he asked that question. Kakashi had this confused and intense thinking look on his face, the face that would make most people worry.

Their sensei didn't respond, so Naruto had to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Sensei!"

The jounin's head pulled up out of its daze.

"Oh! Hm? Oh... yeah. To finish what I was saying, tracker ninja deal with the body immediately. On the spot. So there's no room for error."

The real Sakura sat back patiently, listening to every word that was said... but of course, her clone didn't have the time to wait.

"DUH! Haku took Zabuza's body away instead of working on him right at the scene because they work together! Didn't you see where the needle hit? It hit the pressure point on the neck which makes you fall into a temporary death state. Didn't you notice earlier, Kakashi-sensei? Zabuza is still alive, and he's going to get us for revenge. Especially _you_, Kakashi-sensei since you made a fool of him."

Tazuna stepped into the conversation.

"What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin!"

Kakashi let his hand fall from the side of his face.

"Here's the truth. Sakura is right. Zabuza is still alive."

Naruto jumped up in shock.

"WHAT? But we saw the body!"

A vein popped on the clone's head.

"You know what? Fine. _Don't_ listen to what I just said," and she stormed out of the room.

Sakura rose her eyebrows at her copy's behavior.

_'Am I really that impatient?'_

Kakashi went on with the rest of the people, since the other member of his team who had gone outside pretty much seemed to know everything that was happening.

With a mental note to give his female student a little questioning, Kakashi continued to explain.

"The state in which his heart had stopped was only temporary- to simulate death. The weapons that the tracker used are senbon. They can pierce deeply but can rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ. _Not_ in the neck."

The real Sakura was still sitting next to Kakashi, and she nearly laughed. Back then, she couldn't even _count_ how many rogues she had killed with a simple stab to the neck.

"They're modified from needles used from medical treatments like acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know _every_ detail of the human body. Causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them. First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than he is. Second, he used senbon- which have a precise affect, but are rarely fatal. From these two facts, we can conclude that he wasn't trying to _kill_ Zabuza, he was trying to _save_ him," Kakashi finished.

"Come on, you're over thinking this, aren't you?" Tazuna asked, a tint of desperate hope in his voice.

The kunoichi sitting in this room still had the genjutsu up, and she was getting rather bored. She knew all of this already. There was a sudden desire to go outside.

_'I think I'm going to go get some fresh air then. No one will notice me leaving.'_

Sakura walked out of the room, but then noticed Inari listening in to the conversation.

_'Sly brat,'_ she thought playfully, and poked him on the head.

Of course, Inari couldn't see where Sakura was because of the weak genjutsu she put up, and he was startled to feel something warm pushing his forehead. There was a slight minute of panic before he dismissed it as his imagination.

_'Aw. He's no fun.'_

Stepping outside to the shining sun, Sakura released the jutsu she covered the house with. Her clone was sitting on the side of the dock, absentmindedly kicking the water with her feet. The real girl sat next to her clone with her legs crossed.

"What made you so mad?" the real Sakura asked.

The clone stopped kicking and gazed at their identical reflections in the water.

"They... they don't really notice us that much."

Eye roll.

"Well _duh_. Sasuke and Naruto are the ones who had a tragic past."

"Yeah, but _we're_ the ones who are going to have the tragic future!"

"_Only_ if we don't fix this mess!"

"... Yeah... but did you see the way Kakashi looks at the boys? Compare it to the look he gives us."

"Haven't you already noticed that? I mean, I've noticed it since... well the first time we had this mission."

"I know. I'm just pointing it out."

"_Uh-huh._"

They both sensed a presence behind them and they turned their heads around simultaneously.

"O-ohayo," greeted a normal lady.

"Ohayo!" the two Sakuras replied back in a friendly tone.

"Are... are you two twins?" she asked. "You two look alike... well, perfectly identical actually!"

The 'twins' looked at each other and an agreement passed between them.

Turning around, they both answered, "Yes, we are."

_'Better not alarm her and tell her that I'm a ninja who made a clone. Good thing I took off my headband in the house.'_

The lady held out a hand.

"I'm Tomoko."

Both girls shook the hand politely.

"I'm Sakura," the clone smiled.

The real Sakura sent a quick glare her way before looking back at Tomoko.

"I'm Sayuri."

Tomoko beamed at the two and laughed, "Wow! You're both named after flowers! One is a cherry blossom, and one is a lily!"

The pair nodded and 'Sayuri' informed, "I'm sorry, but we have to get back inside now. I left my friend waiting to talk with my twin."

The clone nodded and waved good-bye before being grabbed by 'Sayuri' and dragged back inside. Letting out a breath, there was once again only one Sakura, who made it just in time to hear, "- Now things are going to get better, believe it!"

It wasn't hard to guess who said that.

Then, there was a rude and childish, "I _don't_ believe it, and _nothing's_ going to be good!"

_'Ah. Inari.'_

"Who _are_ you?" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger at the kid.

The pink haired girl came in after Inari rushed over to his grandpa and they had a short reunion with a hug.

Hands on hips, Inari's mother scolded, "Inari, that was _very rude_! These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely!"

Tazuna smiled while stroking his grandson's head.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm rude to them too."

Inari took a look at the 4 ninja in the room and turned to look at his mom.

"Mom, don't you see? These people are going to _die_! Gatou and his men will come back and find them and wipe them out!"

Naruto jumped up.

"What did you say, brat? Listen up, do you know what a _super ninja_ is? Well that's _me_, only a lot better. _I'm_ going to be hokage! This Gatou or Blatou or whatever he's called is no match for a real hero like me!"

The bridge builder's grandson had his eyes hidden by his hat.

"Ha. There's no such thing as a 'hero'. _You're_ just full of stupid ideas!"

A vein was visible on Naruto's temple.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?"

Instead of holding him back, Sakura let out a punch, making Naruto crash through the wall and into the water half a mile away.

At the looks on Sasuke and Kakashi's faces, Sakura shrugged.

"I'll heal him later. Right now, he needs to deal with the fact that this kid is as stubborn as a rock."

Although Inari was impressed- and a bit scared- of the girl's strength, he still spat, "If you want to stay alive, you should go back to where you came from," and he turned to leave.

He was _going_ to leave until Sakura appeared in front of him, murder radiating off of her body in giant waves.

"Your stubbornness _is_ like a rock... but I'll tell you something. I can easily crush rocks into oblivion. We _won't_ die. Believe it."

Then, she disappeared altogether.

There was a rather awkward pause, but then it was broken when Kakashi apologized.

"I'm sorry, but my student has a... temper," and then he smiled nervously when he glanced at the gigantic hole in the wall. "And a strength to match that temper..."

Tazuna laughed.

"Reminds me of the time where she killed a man with one hit. Don't worry Inari. They won't die."

Inari continued to walk towards the door, but with less confidence.

"Hey Inari, where are you going?" his grandpa asked.

"To watch the ocean! I wanna be alone!" was the harsh reply.

Right when the door closed, Sakura appeared with a dripping Naruto.

"Where'd that brat go!" he yelled, making Sakura tighten her hold on his arm.

"To watch the ocean," the mom answered.

~x~

Sakura followed Naruto up the stairs, listening to him complain about 'the brat' and how he was going to put Inari in his place.

The blonde ninja was all tough until they both heard sobbing and crying.

They gave each other confused looks and peeked through the partially closed door.

Inari was sitting by the window, crying and holding a picture of his father.

"Daddy... don't..." he choked between sobs.

Naruto leaned back from the door with a sad look on his face. Turning to Sakura, he could see that her bangs were covering her eyes.

"Sakura-chan...?"

Her head snapped up and there was a second where her face reflected pain. The emotion was wiped off her face so quickly that Naruto thought he was imagining things. Now, there was an overly-radiant smile on her face.

"Let's go back," she whispered, and Naruto nodded in agreement.

~x~

Now team 7 was outside on a grassy area surrounded by trees.

"Alright, your training starts _now_," Kakashi announced.

"Right!" Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

Kakashi held up his index finger and explained, "First, we'll review chakra, a ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential."

Sasuke had his eyes closed with his arms crossed; the famous Sasuke pose.

"We know that."

Naruto smiled and held up a finger, mimicking his sensei.

"He's right! A long time ago we learned about... uh... catra!"

Kakashi lowered his head in exasperation.

"_Chakra?_"

Naruto smiled sheepishly.

Kakashi held out his hand to his pink haired student.

"Go ahead, Sakura."

Sakura- who was sitting against her tree happily dozing off was unhappy to be called to explain something.

"Alright," she grunted and stood up, stretching. "Chakra is the elemental life energy that ninja use in jutsu. It's the source of all its power. This energy has two forms: physical and spiritual. Physical insists in all the cells in the entire body working together, while spiritual is the primal source of power which is intensified by training and experience. These two forms must be brought out together in order to perform jutsu. Finally, hand signs focus and unleash the chakra."

"Right on all points," Kakashi complimented. "Iruka-sensei really _did_ have some excellent students."

There was no response from Sakura, she just merely continued her stretching routine.

Embarrassed, Naruto asked, "What's the point of these complicated explanations? The whole point is to learn the jutsu, isn't it?"

Sakura wacked Naruto with a small twig.

"Naruto's right for once," Sasuke helped. "We're _already_ using chakra in our jutsu."

Now the twig was wacked against _Sasuke's_ head.

"No, you have not _mastered_ this power, you've barely scratched the surface of it."

Rubbing his head, Naruto shouted, "What do you mean?"

"Calm down and listen," their sensei lectured. "It's just like Sakura said. You have to combine physical and spiritual energies and combine them within yourself. _But_. How do you do that? Each jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up till' now, you've just _guessed_ at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless! The jutsu won't work at all or it'll just be a joke."

He shook his head.

"You waste so much chakra that way, and you can't fight at all. You're just a _target_."

"Uh, so how do we change _that_?" Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal, you must be ready to put your life on the line."

Naruto and Sasuke seemed rather... stiff, and Kakashi was rather proud that he could make them so tense, but when he turned to Sakura... she didn't seem a bit affected!

"Let me guess. We have to climb a tree, right?" she asked while tossing a stick up and down.

"Uh... correct," Kakashi blinked in confusion, wondering how in the world she guessed it.

"Lucky guess. Some friends of mine told me it was probably the first thing they learned other than teamwork."

Naruto was completely surprised.

"CLIMB A TREE?"

"That's right. But... there's just one rule. _No hands_."

The two boys stood there wondering how in the world they would be able to accomplish that task.

"Well let's see if I mean it," Kakashi pulled his hands up into the ram seal.

A tiny bit of wind made from the chakra he used circled around his feet. With that, he grabbed his crutches and started walking up the tree without any use of his hands.

Walking until he was upside down on one of the branches, Kakashi explained, "This is the only way to defeat Zabuza. First, you learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in the body. This is difficult, even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of spiritual and physical energy, and the bottoms of your feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master _this_, then you'll be able to master _any_ jutsu. Well... theoretically."

"The second thing is to maintain your chakra. When a ninja is in battle, it's even _harder_ to control and maintain his chakra. This is a serious mistake. To avoid this, maintaining your chakra must become second nature. Effortless. I could talk about this all day, but it wouldn't advance your skills, will it? You need to apply the power of chakra- through training."

Three kunai appeared in his hand and he threw them down; one for each student.

"Use the kunai knife the mark the highest point of the tree you can climb without using your hands, then try to get _past_ that mark the next time. And the next. At first, you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible. Until you get used to it."

He gave his students a second to take that all in before speaking again.

"Ready?"

Naruto pulled out the kunai from the ground in front of him and declared,"I'm _more _than ready! This is gonna be _no_ sweat all the way! Believe it! Remember what you said, sensei! _I'm_ the one who's grown the most!"

Kakashi sent him a glare.

"You're definitely the one who _talks_ the most. Now get focused and _do it_."

Naruto shrank back and formed the ram seal along with the other members of his squad. They all focused their chakra to the soles of their feet and a small dust circle formed shortly afterwards.

Eyes snapping open, Naruto confidently made a jog for the tree, but before he could even take his third step up the tree, he fell backwards and hit his head with a cry of pain.

Sasuke's progress was better. He made a good starting run and made it up a few feet before the bark underneath his foot caved in. He quickly slashed the spot above the spot where his foot was and landed back down on the ground. He calculated his error before raising an eyebrow at Naruto who was cradling the bump on his head while tears of pain fell.

A voice shouted down from high above.

"Kakashi-sensei? How long am I allowed to stay up here?"

They all looked up in astonishment to see Sakura on top of the tallest tree in their area. Carved into the tree were the words, 'Sakura was here' in big bold letters vertically along the tree made by kunai slashes.

~x~

**Look guys... I'm sorry, but I haven't been near any places with internet connection, so it's been very annoying. I finished this chapter a few days before I could actually **_**update**_** it. T.T And don't ask about where she got the umbrella. Please.**

**Anyways, sorry and... a few things I want to mention.**

**I'm afraid I won't be able to keep Haku and Zabuza alive... I **_**want**_** to, because they don't really deserve to be parted... but I can't. Who knows what would change in the Naruto world? I mean, Zabuza actually admitted that Haku was precious to him, and it was right before he died.**

**And on a note, for those who don't exactly agree with the two doujutsus, I added that not as a boost... well kind of... but also so that Sakura could understand Sasuke better. As well as Hinata and Neji. She's not going to use it until **_**much**_** later. **

**So um... any questions you want to ask just ask about it on your reviews and I'll answer them on the next chapter. :)**

**OR... if you want to rant about something you didn't like, then it's fine with me. As long as they're not just pointless flames 'cause you're in a grumpy mood, because I'm going to snap back at you. Maybe. Not to be rude, but in mental self defense. **

**If it's constructive criticism, then I don't mind. You don't have to add in, '...not to offend you or anything...' or the '...this isn't a flame...' because I'm fine with criticism. I need it. PLEASE! Tell me if something is wrong with the way I write my stories. Please. Or tell me something that you don't like about the story. I'll try to mold it so that it would fit a little bit more to your liking. **

**BUT.**

**If you want me to do something ludicrous like change the whole entire story then… forget it. **

**Thanks for reading this story! ...Which you just... somehow stumbled upon...**

**~Daragonbolt **

**- To the reviewers...**

**Your Hoshi- Well... she's an amazing medic, so she was able to keep her eye color yet have a doujutsu in each eye. She didn't use both of Neji's and Madara's eyes though. Just... one. Like Kakashi. :P But she was able to force part of each doujutsu into the other eye, so she's able to switch them on like a normal Uchiha or a normal Hyuuga. And then meld them together. **

**Sureibu- Yeah... she's one of the more emotional people. I guess they **_**do**_** jump around a bit...**

**Randomstuff4all- I agree. :D**

**KThxBai- Yep! The mighty Sakura knows all...**

**Moon Symphony- First of all, love the name. Second of all, THANK YOU! My imgaination is on overload now, so many possiblities... I thought my ideas were all crammed together in one story! And lastly, yeah, Sakura should be portrayed as a strong person instead of weak. :)**

**Sonofafluffymuffin- Haha, like your username! And thanks! 'Awesometastical'... new word. :P**

**Readalot-TMB - Thank you for the criticism! I need it. Seriously. So thanks!**

**XxTenshixX- Yeah... one of the main reasons she survived the war was the two doujutsus. I think my chapter lengths are kind of short though... but thanks! :):):):)**

**xToya- Thanks! I tried. :D**

**Tainted Laurels- Yeah... Sasuke made me laugh too. When I was typing it I swear I was laughing. Sasuke's gonna kill me... :DDD**

**MollieBabie- Yep. Can't have her teammates fussing over her. Gotta keep it to herself so there's no worries. :)**

**FreedomIsPirateKey- Hahaha I totally understand. That's why I wrote this fanfiction. 'Cause there are a few things I would like to change... most of them revolving around Sakura. ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the crappiness of the last chapter. I guess my mood was all up and down that week or something. Even **_**I**_** don't know why Sakura did some things... I mean, some of her actions were really... **_**out there.**_

**~x~**

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gaped at the girl laying down on the tree branch.

Her arms dangled down in a lazy fashion.

"Well! It looks like the _female_ member of the squad is the most advanced chakra controller! Well done Sakura!" Kakashi praised.

Sakura nodded at him in thanks.

Naruto was on full encouragement mode.

"Yeah! Way to go, Sakura-chan! I always knew that you were awesome, dattebeyo!"

His enthusiasm was partially faked. Who could blame him? He could understand if _Sasuke_ beat him... but _Sakura_?

Sasuke scoffed and grumbled, "Whatever."

"Well, not only does Sakura _understand_ chakra, she can control and maintain it as well. We spoke about _someone_ becoming hokage, didn't we? Seems like _Sakura's_ got the best chance at that, wouldn't you say?" Kakashi smirked.

Naruto opened an eye at the last comment.

_'Sakura-chan... becoming the next... hokage...?'_ he pondered the thought. _'I might not become hokage? Because of Sakura-chan?'_

"As for the great Uchiha clan, maybe they're not so great after all," Kakashi mocked.

Sasuke glared at the ground.

Sakura sighed.

"Don't make my achievement sound so great. This took _all_ my concentration and a bit more. It took a big chunk out of my chakra anyways..." she lied.

Naruto looked a bit more relaxed, but Sasuke still seemed rather stiff.

Sasuke's head unexpectedly snapped to the side when a stick bounced off his headband. He glared at the thrower who was glaring back at him.

"Loosen up, Uchiha!" she yelled, and rolled over to her back, closing her eyes.

Suddenly, tension filled the air as blue and black eyes clashed, both determined to beat the other.

"All right!" Naruto yelled. "First I'll match Sasuke, _then_ I'm going all the way to the top!"

Green eyes snapped open and her whole body flipped around, looking around for the intruding presence. Then, she spotted someone hiding behind a tree and she lowered her guard slightly.

_'Inari?'_

Indeed, it was him, hiding behind a tree and glowering at the sight before him.

Inari's anger grew at the looks of these weak ninja.

He turned around to go back, hissing, "Ha! What a waste of time! They don't know what they're up against!"

A growl escaped his clenched teeth, but then he noticed something hanging off his hat. He stopped walking and grabbed the item

A paper airplane...?

He noticed a few scribbles on the inside.

A note!

He unraveled the note and read its contents.

_'Inari-_

_Don't worry. We know __**exactly **__who we're going up against. We bumped into the enemy on the road before, after all, and before __**that**__, we faced two other guys. We're still alive and breathing aren't we? And... don't be so harsh on Naruto. He's kind of like you. Except... he has no family at all. Yet look at his determination. He's a strong kid. _

_We'll be back alive and well, and so will your grandpa! I'll make sure of that with every fiber of my being. I promise.'_

Inari crumpled up the note, tears in his eyes as an image of his father appeared in his mind.

"Who sent this? Come out, whoever you are, you coward!" he hollered with a shaky voice.

No response.

He opened the letter again to look for a name he might've missed, but there was no signature. Only the faint scent of flowers.

~x~

Zabuza lay resting in a bed inside a well furnished room with Haku sitting beside him on a simple stool. Behind them, the door opened and in stepped Gatou along with two tough-looking ninjas.

One looked rather casual with a beanie on, while the other had no shirt- probably to show off the tattoos on his arm and chest.

"Some jounin. The unbeatable ninja just got beaten," Gatou sneered. "Limping back home like some pathetic has been. Demon of the Hidden Mist. Ha! More like _Coward_ of the Hidden Mist!"

Haku abruptly stood up, pushing his chair back slightly. Gatou smirked as his two bodyguards lowered their hands to their weapons, sliding it out so that it would be easy to wield just in case.

Gatou held up a hand and walked past his ninja goons.

"Hang on a minute. Alright, let's see what you have to say about this fiasco, and don't play possum, I know you can talk."

His hand reached for Zabuza, but then Haku's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, making a few cracking noises.

"Keep your _filthy_ hands off of him," the boy growled, a dark look on his face.

Gatou cried out, "Ahh! _You're gonna __**break**__ it!_"

The bodyguards slid out their swords, but weren't fast enough. Haku noticed in time to steal their swords and hold it at an 'X' so that the tips were right at both of their necks.

"Don't _push_ me. I'm in a _really_ foul mood," Haku mumbled, his eyes dilated.

Gatou growled as the boy threw the katanas to the side.

"One chance, that's it!" the business man warned. "If you fail this time, I'll cut you off, and there'll be no one left to cover for you!"

With that, he turned around and grumbled, "Let's go" to his minions and left.

Haku sat back down calmly next to the demon he was helping.

Zabuza finally spoke.

"Haku, that wasn't necessary."

They both knew that he was hiding a kunai under the sheets, ready to slit that chunky businessman's throat.

"Perhaps, but it's still too early to take out Gatou. He's our best cover. Think about it. The murders would draw their attention... then they'd be after us again," Haku pointed out with a small smile.

Zabuza sighed and closed his eyes.

"Right."

There was a short moment of silence before Haku broke it.

"Zabuza... you know that girl that we fought?"

He opened his eyes again and asked, "The one on Kakashi's team?"

Haku nodded.

"Don't you find anything... _strange_ about her?"

This time, it was Zabuza's turn to nod.

"The jutsus she performed were out of her level."

Haku agreed and added, "She also noticed me before I made myself known. She knew my name."

Zabuza frowned under his mask.

"We're just going to have to be wary of her. Just in case she's one of _them_ in disguise."

~x~

Back at the field, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all were breathing heavily with scratches and bruises.

Sakura grimaced. In order to get to this pitiful state, she had to secretly leak out her chakra so that she would be out of breath. It was rather hard to get it past the jounin without him noticing, but she finally did it. Nearly all of her chakra was out, and she was exhausted.

As she watched Naruto fall and hit his head again, she inwardly smiled.

_'I'm rather impressed at how they can just keep it going again and again... but of course, it's __**Naruto**__ I'm talking about... so I shouldn't be surprised... but still.'_

Naruto looked up at his... rather slow... progress and stood up. Seeing how low he could go, Naruto stomped his foot.

"Aagh!"

To her surprise, he walked up to her and whispered, "Uh, hey _you're_ good at this. How about some advice? But _please_ don't tell Sasuke I asked. Please, please!"

Sakura smiled. _Now_ she remembered this part.

_'Teamwork...'_

"Of course I'll help!" she laughed, and sat up, beginning to explain to her companion who had a goofy grin on his face.

~x~

Sitting on the bridge, Sakura yawned, stretching her arms up and arching her back.

"You always this lazy?" Tazuna asked, carrying a long metal pole.

Sakura pulled her arms back and shrugged.

"Where's the weird blonde kid and the one with the attitude?"

"They're training; climbing trees."

"Too tough for you?"

"Um... yeah, I guess. Sensei sent me to guard you instead."

"I figured. You have strength, but no control."

A vein popped.

Tazuna settled the metal plank down gently and then straightened up again.

"Tazuna, I need to talk to you."

The one who spoke was one of the construction workers.

"Huh? What about?" was the reply.

The builder looked rather nervous.

"Uh, thing is... I've been thinking a lot about the bridge... and I've decided... that I've pushed my luck too far. I want out."

"_Now_ you're going to quit on me just like that? You're kidding!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"You know..." his friend started again. "I've stayed on because of our friendship... but I'm putting my life on the line every day I stay here. Gatou and his thugs will show up eventually. When they do... they'll kill you and the bridge will never get finished anyway. It's a lost cause, Tazuna. Why don't we stop now when we can still get out of this _alive_?"

There was a pregnant pause. Then...

"No chance."

"Huh?"

"This is _our_ bridge. Our island is poor... and it'll _stay_ that way until the bridge connects us to the mainland! Promise, trade, and hope! That's what we're building here!"

"There's not gonna _be_ much hope when we're all _dead_."

"So I've heard. Let's break for lunch."

Tazuna walked past his friend, disappointment and anger shown clearly on his face.

His friend held out a hand to him and pleaded, "Tazuna, let's not end it like this!"

The master bridge builder tipped his hat.

"Save your breath. Oh... and Iichi... don't bother coming back after lunch."

Sakura looked at Tazuna in sympathy. That couldn't have been easy.

~x~

"Why is it so hard?" Naruto yelled out to no one in particular.

The two looked up the scratched up trees and saw that they... had a long way to go.

Naruto glared at Sasuke, and Sasuke glared at Naruto. They both suddenly stood up, each determined to beat the other.

They both made a run at the trees at the same time, their movements mirroring the other, panting heavily all the while.

~x~

In the bustling village, Sakura followed Tazuna while glancing around at her surroundings.

"Um... where are we going?" she asked.

"You wanna eat tonight, don't ya? I gotta pick some things up for dinner," the old man explained.

A worry line appeared on the kunoichi's face as she looked at the people. There was one holding up a dusty sign that read, 'Will do any kind of work'. She pitied him, and that concern made her legs move to him and give him a handful of coins and walked away without another glance.

A boy ran by with food in his hand.

"Thief! Thief!" came the store manager.

Sakura grabbed the boy's arm and stopped his movement. She pulled the food out of his hand and returned it to the owner.

The boy cried, "M-my family-!" but then a basket was shoved at him.

He looked up again to see that she was gone and back to Tazuna's side. The faint smell of food drifted into his nostrils and tears sprang up.

"Arigato, Nee-chan!" he shouted, and ran back into his house.

Tazuna took a glance at Sakura.

"You know... you can't help them _all._"

Sakura nodded.

"I know," and then handed two homeless boys some money which they gratefully accepted. "But... I want to help at least some..."

They walked into a dark store with only a few scattered vegetables on the shelves.

Tazuna inspected the food while Sakura shook her head.

_'I forgot how much poverty there was in this place before they built the Naruto Bridge... it's so sad...'_

She felt a presence behind her and then someone touching her behind. That was the only encouragement she needed to whip around and kick him in the face.

She gave him one last withering look before following the bridge builder out the door.

"Wow... you really surprised me back there. Girls around _here_ don't fight like that," Tazuna chuckled.

Sakura mumbled, "They _should_" while throwing a few coins out to a few homeless adults who grabbed at it in a frenzy.

Yet another presence appeared behind her and grabbed at the fabric of her shirt. Spinning around, Sakura was ready for action, but then lowered her arms when she saw that it was only a poor little girl. At first, the little girl was alarmed, but then smiled and held out her hands.

"Please?"

A strange knot formed in Sakura's throat. A knot that she hadn't felt for a long time. Her eyes misted over as she dug through her bag and took out a sack of candy and a bit of money. She handed it to the little girl without hesitation.

Her cute blue eyes widened at the treat she received and beamed.

"Oh, thank you, Nee-chan!"

The pink haired girl nodded, wiping away the moisture from her eyes and watched as the small kid disappeared into the crowd.

"This is how it's been since Gatou came here. Children suffer and the adults are too afraid to stand up for them," Tazuna gazed at the sentimental girl.

Sakura nodded, her determination to guard the bridge and it's master builder even stronger now.

"They've lost all hope. _That's _why we have to finish the bridge. It will bring promise and trade, but much more importantly, _that_ bridge is a symbol of courage. We must restore the spirit of our people. When the bridge is finished, people will start to believe again. To believe they can live in dignity!" His hands clenched. "We can't let Gatou stop us!'

~x~

Sakura watched in amusement at the rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto. She came back an hour ago with Inari's grandpa, and she wanted to see how her friends were doing... only to see that they were deep into the competition.

Naruto and Sasuke were still climbing trees, neither of them reaching the top yet. They nearly always start at the same time for some reason, and their movements mostly mimic the other's... until one of them fall.

Usually Naruto.

Speaking of Naruto falling, he was starting to tip backwards right then. He made a slash in the tree and landed, gasping for breath. Looking up, his mood darkened to see that Sasuke was still running. Frustration swept over him.

Sasuke yelled out when he lost his balance again and quickly made a mark before jumping and landing. He scowled at the fact that Naruto was catching up to him inch by inch.

Naruto tore his gaze away from Sasuke and shook his head. Thinking about Sasuke's progress would make him lose concentration. Instead, he calmed himself and thought back to what Sakura said.

_'Of course I'll help! Well, chakra requires spiritual energy, so if you get all anxious and frantic, it doesn't work. You have to relax and turn all your focus to the tree. That's how you get a steady chakra flow to the bottoms of your feet. Got it?'_

Following Sakura's advice, Naruto started letting his chakra flow to his feet while keeping calm and focusing on the tree. Soon, he could feel a steady stream of chakra at the spot that he sent it to. Blue eyes full of confidence opened and he started making his way towards the tree.

Just then...

"Hey. Naruto," Sasuke called out, completely ruining Naruto's concentration, making him fall flat on his face.

Annoyed, Naruto pushed himself up and yelled, "Sasuke! What are you doing? I was trying to focus my chakra!"

"Well uh... you know... the thing is..."

Naruto pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"The thing is _what_?" he asked and crossed his arms suspiciously, wondering why Sasuke's saying so many words in one setting.

Sasuke avoided Naruto's gaze and continued.

"Y-you know... you asked Sakura for advice when she was here... so what did she tell you?"

It looked like it was actually _painful_ for Sasuke to ask that question.

Sakura silently snickered behind her hand. The look on his face was priceless!

Naruto blinked, his expression a bit surprised. Then, his mouth stretched out to a wide grin.

"Oh?" he chuckled evilly, then blandly stated, "I'm not tellin' _you_."

Sasuke snapped his head to glare at Naruto with a twitching eye.

Sakura nearly snorted in laughter. Naruto sure knows how to use things to his advantage.

~x~

Inside Tazuna's house, you could clearly hear loud munching noises coming from the kitchen.

"This is fantastic! It's been ages since so many guests have been at our table!" Tazuna laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura sweat dropped as she poked around at her plate. The boys were forcing food down their throats, making her lose her appetite.

After a bit, they both finished at the same time and jumped up declaring, "I want some more!"

Seeing that they finished at the same time, black and blue glared at each other, the intensity equal. Then, their stomachs flipped, making them withdraw and spew their food back out all over the floor.

"Don't eat so much if you're gonna puke it up!" Sakura growled.

"I... _have_ to eat!" Sasuke grumbled, a gleam in his eye.

"And _I_ have to eat more than _him_!" Naruto declared. "It's the only _possible_ way I can get strong enough to beat him!"

"That's true," Kakashi nodded. "But puking won't help you."

Naruto and Sasuke picked up their bowls again, but before they could gulp down anything, Sakura grabbed both of their bowls and glared at them.

"If you want to become bulimic, weak, and useless, then fine! But while _I'm_ around, you guys are going to have to eat like a regular person!"

She slammed the bowls back on the table.

"If I find you throwing up your food once more, I'll tie your esophagus in a knot! You're making us lose our appetites! _AND_ you're wasting food!"

Naruto and Sasuke shrank down and started eating at a normal pace. Sakura smiled.

"Thanks!"

After a bit, Sakura got up from the table and noticed the photo with Inari's dad torn out. She knew that if she mentioned it, then it would throw Inari's emotions into turmoil... but it happened last time, and nothing too bad happened.

A slight hesitation before she asked her question.

"... E-excuse me, but this picture is torn. Is there some r-reason for that? Inari, you kept glancing at this picture all through dinner. It looks like there was someone else in the picture but they got torn out. That's kind of strange, isn't it?"

There was a slight pause before Inari's mother answered softly, "It's my husband."

"They used to call him a hero in this land," Tazuna added sadly.

Inari suddenly pushed his seat back from the table and jumped off.

"Inari, where are you going?" his mother asked in concern.

Her son gave no response, only slammed the door shut as he passed through.

His mother ran to the door and opened it, but before she could leave, she gave Inari's grandfather a frustrated look.

"Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari! You know that! Ugh!" and left to comfort her son.

"About Inari... what happened?" Sakura forced out.

She really didn't want to hear any more sad stories, but she had to so that everything would play out correctly.

Kakashi turned to the bridge builder.

"Is there a story behind this?"

"He wasn't his real father; he came into this family later, and he brought so much happiness," Tazuna explained. "He and Inari were very close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time. But then..."

By now Tazuna was shaking with the attempt to hold back his tears.

"All that ended. Now he never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since that day _everything _changed. The word 'courage' was stolen from this island! We were left feeling hopeless, powerless, and Inari suffered the most. Ever since that _day_, ever since _it_ happened."

"Tell us," Kakashi persuaded with a soothing voice. "What happened to Inari?"

"First, you need to know about the man; his father. The man who taught us the word, 'courage'," Tazuna explained, taking off his glasses and wiping away his tears. "Who was a hero in this land."

Now Naruto was interested.

"A hero? Really?"

Tazuna slid his glasses back on, saying, "You can decide that on your own. He came here about three years ago."

_"Poochie! Poochie, no!" _

_A younger version of Inari was standing on the dock, held back by two older kids while their leader stood in front of them, a small dog yapping in his arms._

_The leader smirked at the dog and then announced, "That's not his name. Starting today, his name is Shooting Star, and he's __**my**__ dog now!"_

_"No he's not! He's __**my**__ dog!" Inari protested. "And his name's not 'Shooting Star'! I had him since he was a puppy! He's my __**friend**__ and he __**doesn't**__ belong to __**you**__!"_

_He tried to pull out of the arm lock that he was trapped in, but no luck._

_"Just shut up!" their leader shouted. _

_He looked down at the dog who glanced up at him, and he smiled evilly. Then, he threw the poor dog into the water. _

_Inari watched in horror as his dog was thrown into the sea._

_"POOCHIE!"_

_The dog bobbed up and down in the water, frantically trying to keep his head up while howling for help._

_"See what happens when you don't listen to me?" the leader stared at the drowning dog without pity. "Now I'm not gonna lift a finger to help him."_

_Lifting his head up, he ordered, "Now you can let him go."_

_Inari pulled his arms away and took a step closer to the leader. _

_"Why did you do that? My dog is gonna drown!" _

_"Ha! If he's __**your**__ dog, then jump in and get him! Be a big hero and save your friend!"_

_Inari's furious look melted into one of fear. _

_"After all that big talk... you're not gonna let him go under, are you?"_

_The younger version of Inari stepped closer to the edge of the dock, gazing helplessly at his poor drowning pooch._

'I've got to jump in and save him! I've got to! ... But...'

_"Ha! He won't even help his precious little Poochie!" the leader mocked._

'I... I can't swim! A.. and I'm scared! I'm sorry, Poochie!'

_"Hey, you made such a big deal about, well go get him!" _

_Suddenly, a foot met Inari's back and he was pushed into the sea with a yell._

_Now __**he**__ was the one trying to swim, gasping for air!_

_"I think you went too far, Akane. I mean, he could really __**drown**__ or something," one of the boys who held Inari back stepped up._

_"AHHH! HEEEELLLPPP! __**PLEASE!**__" Inari screamed._

_"Forget about it!" the leader dismissed._

_"I don't know..."_

_Then he was grabbed in the collar by the leader._

_"If you say one more word, you're goin' in next!" he growled. "Got it?"_

_"I don't wanna die!" the drowning boy hollered in fear._

_Something caught his eye, and he saw his dog neatly swimming away._

_"Pooch!" he called out, hoping that the dog might help him. "Pooch!"_

"Interesting enough, right at that moment, Pooch learned how to dog paddle," Tazuna grumbled.

A howl echoed through the house, as if on cue.

_"Pooch!"_

_No help. His dog was swimming away, not caring about the fate that awaited his master. The dog made it to land, shook off the water, and started running._

_"Hey, Shooting Star's running away! Get him!" the leading kid ordered, and they all abandoned Inari, leaving him alone to drown._

_After that, Inari could only keep his head up a few seconds before he couldn't hold it anymore and sunk down._

_Under the water, Inari thought, _'Oh no... can't breathe... I...'

_Then darkness washed over him._

_~x~_

_Bright light._

_Fire crackling._

_The smell of fish._

_Inari's senses slowly came back from unconsciousness, and his eyes opened._

_"Wakin' up, huh? Finally."_

'Huh?'

_The small boy sprang up from the ground, the blanket dropping to his knees. What he saw surprised him, but the fact that he was alive surprised him even more. A muscular man with a white rope tied around his head sat around roasting fish around a fire._

_The man turned around, a scar shaped like an 'x' on his chin, making him look tough, but he had a rather kind face._

_"I had a talk with those kids. They won't bother you again," he smiled, then held up a fish on a stick. "Here, eat!"_

_Inari's first reaction was to blink. _

'Am I alive?'_ he wondered. _'Is this for real?'

_Then he asked, "Did you pull me out of the water, mister?"_

_The man laughed and held the food out, saying, "Have a bite to eat first. Then we can talk all about it."_

~x~

_"Hm. I see. Your dog abandoned you too, huh? In my country, the dogs are __**very**__ loyal. They stand by their masters," the man observed while Inari eagerly bit at his fish. "Then again, __**you**__ abandoned your dog first, so... what can you expect?"_

_Inari suddenly stopped eating, his eyes wide at the thought. Then, he lowered his head in shame. _

_"I really wanted to save him, but I just froze. I was just so scared! I guess I just don't have enough courage..."_

_Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, and he sniffed._

_A large, comforting hand landed on his hair._

_"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, you're just a kid! When __**I**__ was your age, I was scared too!" _

_Inari gazed up at his savior with astonishment. He just couldn't imagine this man... __**scared**__. Was it possible?_

"_It's no big deal," the man reassured. "But always remember this; live your life so that you have nothing to regret. If you care about something, __**protect**__ it, no matter how tough, no matter how sad, you've got to keep trying- even if you have to put your life on the line. Protect it with both arms, never give in!"_

_The young boy's mouth hung open in awe at this man's bravery… his determination… his will… his __**courage**__._

"This man's name was Kaiza, a simple fisherman who had come here from another land to follow his dreams. After that, Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. The boy had never had a _real_ father, so you could imagine what it meant to have Kaiza in his life. He looked up to him, followed in his footsteps—like a real father and son," Tazuna recalled fondly. "Kaiza spent more and more time with us until he just naturally became a member of our family… and when this town needed him, he became something _more_."

_A man drenched in rain burst through the door of the household._

"_We've got trouble, Kaiza!" he yelled. "The flood gate is open and the water is rising! If we don't stop it, the lower district could be flooded!"_

_Kaiza jumped up from his chair in alarm._

"_What?"_

"_Father!" Inari called out in concern._

"_Inari, get me some rope, hurry!"_

"_Right!"_

_Outside, a large torrent of water rushed past the gate and into the village, its amount dangerously high._

"_See where the gate is? We have to put a line out there and pull it closed!" a villager analyzed._

"_A line!" another villager exclaimed. "You'd have to swim out there to do that! It's impossible—no one can make it through that current!"_

"_If we don't do it, the district will be wiped out! It's the only way!" _

"_I'll do it," a confident man announced._

_Everyone turned around to see a familiar man._

"_Kaiza!" they gasped._

"_Don't be foolish!" the villagers argued. "You'll never make it!"_

"_Father…!" Inari whimpered, scared that this might be the last day for his father to live._

"_Don't worry," Kaiza kneeled down so that he could face his son. "Nothing can stop your father. This is **our** village, so we've got to do everything we can to help!"_

_Even in this situation, Kaiza still gave his son a determined and bright smile._

_He tied a white rope around his waist; one similar to the rope tied around his forehead, and leaned against the railing. With one last glare at the raging water… he jumped._

_Inari followed his father with his eyes, hands gripping the railing with tense arms, but willed himself to believe that his dad could do it._

_His father's dark head bobbed in and out of the water, his arms fighting against the current._

_Hands cupped around his mouth, Inari hollered out, "__**Father, I know you can do it!**__"_

_With a rather loud grunt, Kaiza pulled himself up and out of the water, the top of the gate supporting him._

"_He made it!" the villagers exclaimed in excitement. "He's got the rope on! Alright, let's pull it closed! Pull everybody, come on!"_

_The villagers all squeezed together so that everyone could pull on the rope that Kaiza threw around the gate._

"From that time on, Kaiza was considered a hero, this man. He taught us all the meaning of courage, and Inari was so proud to be his son. But it wasn't long after…" Tazuna's mood suddenly darkened. "After Gatou showed up. He took over—he terrorized the whole village! Only Kaiza stood up to him. Gatou couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole _gang_ to stop one man."

_From inside a solitary building came grunts of pain, and the sound of bamboo slapping skin._

"_You've played your hand, Kaiza," Gatou smirked as he looked down on his victim's battered state. "All that talk… about how you're going to protect this village with your two arms. Those arms aren't much use now, are they?"_

_Kaiza let out another cry as the bamboo tortured his back once again. It was true. His arms were outstretched and tied to a large stick… yet he still glared defiantly at Gatou. _

"_You still got that defiant look in your eye though," the business man noted with displeasure. _

_A scowl marred his face, but then he grinned evilly as he said, "But my men are going to get rid of **that**."_

_He chuckled darkly._

"_Get to work on him," Gatou commanded to his gang._

_The one slamming Kaiza's back with bamboo now pushed the village hero forwards with his foot, growling, "Get down there!"_

_Arms useless, Kaiza could do nothing but fall forwards on his face. He looked up in fear at the two large men snickering above him with sick anticipation, a large wooden mallet in their hands. Still sneering at him, they swung the weapon high up above their heads and pulled down with all of their might, evoking a blood curdling scream from their victim's bloody lips._

_~x~_

_The villagers murmured while crowing around a closed fence, staring at the bruised and broken form of their hero. He really was in a horrible situation and the arms that he was supposed to use to protect the things he loved… were smashed and ashen black. _

"_Listen up!" Gatou ordered. "This man has defied the Gatou cooperation. He has disturbed the order of this land. His punishment is execution."_

_The murmurs of the crowd grew louder, some with horror, some with protest, and most with fear. _

"_Let this be an example so that no one would **dare** get in our way."_

"_Father!" Inari cried out, tears freely falling down from his face. _

"_Inari, don't!" a man beside him scolded._

_Inari only cried harder, clenching at the fence in distress._

_Kaiza heard his son's crying, and met his gaze, forcing a small smirk on his face._

"_Do it," Gatou hissed at one of his henchmen._

_The minion pushed the weapon out of its sheath with his thumb and grabbed its hilt with his other hand._

_The blade gleamed in the afternoon sunset, sharp and ready for piercing._

"_Father, no!" Inari choked._

_Kaiza kept the smirk on his face, even with the blood leaking out of his mouth and nose._

_There was one last cry of, "__**Daddy!**__" before the beloved Kaiza was gone from the living._

_~x~_

_Inari was shrouded by the darkness of his thoughts._

'You told me… that you'd p-protect me… and this land… w-with both your arms!'

_His shoulders were shaking, his tears of pain dripping to the floor._

'You made me believe you c-could do it! B-but it was all just a lie!'

_No more tears fell from his face now, his eyes void of the usual happiness and hope. Now… they were empty._

"Since then, Inari has changed. So did Tsunami and all our people. We lost our will…" Tazuna finished sadly.

Sakura was leaning against the wall, her eyes shielded from emotion. Her blank eyes stared at Naruto, expecting what was coming next.

He was deep in his thoughts, glaring at the photo of Inari's family, and the ripped out side where Kaiza used to be. Then, he abruptly stood up and took a step, then fell down with a yell.

Sakura's leg shot out and caught him by the stomach.

"Careful," was all she said, staring out the window at a bird perched on a branch.

"You'd better take the day off," Kakashi advised. "No more training—you've used too much chakra. You push any harder, it could kill you."

Nevertheless, Naruto pushed himself up with stiff muscles, ignoring his sensei's orders and turned to Tazuna.

"I'm gonna prove it!" he grinned, straining to stay up.

Sakura withdrew her leg, now fully looking out the window.

"I'm gonna prove that… in this world…" Now he was standing up, his shaky legs barely withstanding the challenge. "There _are_ real heroes!"

~x~

Haku stared out the window, releasing the bun holding his hair up.

He walked outside with the birds chirping, a basket on an arm. Kneeling down, Haku picked some herbs and dropped them in his basket. A bird landed on his shoulder, cocking its head from side to side jerkily the way birds do. He smiled at the bird, but then it suddenly flew away because of a new subject of interest. Haku turned to see 3 birds on a sleeping boy, his face covered in dust and scratches. A few birds were also on top of an unscathed girl leaning on a tree 5 feet away—asleep as well.

Haku realized with alarm that these were the ninja that he saw earlier. The blonde boy was the one shouting at him for 'killing' Zabuza in one shot, and the pink haired girl was the one who performed jutsus out of her league.

Clenching his fist, Haku started walking towards them—the boy first, and reached out a hand. His arm was suddenly grabbed by the pink haired girl.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to disturb someone in their sleep?"

~x~

Sakura yawned and sat at the table.

A plate was set in front of her and she smiled at Tsunami and muttered a 'thanks' before glancing warily at the boy sitting across from her.

'_Inari seems fine…'_

She still felt a tad bit guilty for making Inari recall unwanted and painful memories.

"Naruto's not here? Looks like he's been out all night," Tazuna observed.

Sakura grunted an agreement. She felt like she was taking this whole time travel thing for granted, so she sent a clone along with Naruto… just in case.

"Sakura? Are you alright?" Tazuna's voice broke into her thoughts.

The kunoichi nodded slowly.

"Naruto's alright. I… checked up on him yesterday. He still has a bit of chakra left. If he pushes his chakra too much, then he'll fall unconscious and regain his chakra that way."

Tsunami still worried. Probably because of her motherly instinct.

"Well I certainly hope he's ok. A child spending the night in the woods alone…"

Kakashi reassured her, "There's nothing to worry about. Naruto is a goofy kid, but he's also a full fledged ninja. He can handle himself."

"Naruto's a loser. He's probably lying out there dead somewhere," Sasuke pointed out.

Sakura shook her head, a knowing glint in her eye.

"He's just fine. Trust me."

Sasuke suddenly stood up and headed for the door.

"I'm going for a walk."

Sakura twitched an eye as her pupil flickered towards Sasuke's plate. They had just started eating, yet he was already finished.

'_That was fast…'_

Two jade eyes turned their attention to the brooding boy in front of her.

He was scowling, his hat shading his eyes.

~x~

"Didn't anyone tell you not to disturb people while they're sleeping?"

The hidden mist boy swung his head around in alarm at the one holding his wrist, but then relaxed when he saw the teasing gleam in her eye and the hidden smile tugging at her mouth.

The kunoichi gave him a smile before leaning back.

"Gathering herbs?" she asked, pointing to the basket he left behind.

Haku nodded.

"Looks like you have someone who's wounded. What kind of injuries does he have?" the pink haired girl wondered, a strange look in her eye.

"Why do you assume that it's a _he_?" was Haku's response.

Sakura laughed, the melodic sound bouncing off the trees.

"I'm not stupid. I'm not _assuming_ it's a male. I _know_ it's a male. Am I right… Haku?"

"So you recognize me."

The girl scoffed.

"I can recognize that voice a mile away."

Haku smiled at her.

"What are you doing out in the woods?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged and replied, "Well… training. I'm trying to improve my strength and ability to its highest level. Or… at least close to the highest level."

Moving his head to the side in interest, Haku started the questions.

"Really? What level are you?"

"Genin."

"But the jutsus you performed…"

"Ha! No, those jutsus came from one of my animal acquaintances. She has a very high level of power, and can take over bodies—if the owner of the body is willing."

"Oh? Where is your animal friend, then?"

"She left. Her child has a sickness. She only visited briefly to assist me."

"Hm… what is your purpose for training?"

Sakura had lied through her teeth, and it was actually surprising that Haku bought the pathetic lie, but she wouldn't let her relief show.

"Well… I have a goal to achieve, and I have to get stronger to reach it."

"What's your goal?"

"My goal? Well… I want to protect those close to me. I want to be the one who is fighting, defending lives—not the one helpless and quivering. I don't want to be protected. I want to protect… and prove to people that I'm not a weakling."

"Oh… That's rather… inspiring."

Sakura then shook her head and bounced right back to their original topic.

"My turn to ask you a question. How's the wounded? Zabuza, I presume."

There was a very short pause before Haku let out a small—but absolutely fake—laugh.

"Zabuza's dead, remember? I killed him with a blow to the neck."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura moved to stand next to him and replied, "You can't trick me, Haku. I'm a medic. I know that the spot that you hit only caused the heart to stop temporarily."

Haku gazed at her warily, ready to fight, but to his surprise, a hand was held up in front of his face to stop the action.

"I don't want to fight you, Haku. I wanted to tell you something," Sakura murmured, her eyes starting to push the emotions backwards, so that nothing would be revealed.

The mist boy loosened his muscles and resumed his calm posture and nodded as a 'go ahead' gesture.

She took a deep breath before starting.

"I understand… your loyalty to someone that you treasure. You love Zabuza like family- maybe even closer than most families! I wanted to tell you—"

Suddenly, Sakura was pinned to a tree, a sword's tip at her neck.

"_How_ do you know so much about me?" Haku demanded, tightening his grip on her and pressing the sword's tip on the skin of her neck.

Sakura laughed once more—a rather bold move for someone who's being threatened with her life.

"There won't be any more answers if you kill me. I can't answer your question if I'm dead."

Haku pressed the sword a tad bit harder, expecting to draw a bit of blood… and he was suddenly grabbing nothing but air. The girl had poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

"A clone…"

Her voice suddenly whispered through the forest, carried by the wind along with a few flower petals.

It caressed his face and whispered in his ear, "Protect him with all your heart… Protect him…"

Haku watched the petals fly away with the wind, his hands slightly clenched.

A snort caught his attention, and he turned around to see the sleeping boy. He reached down for his collar and shook him gently.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep here. _Wake up_."

Naruto stirred and groaned, pulling his torso upwards. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before turning to the person who woke him up.

"Who the heck are you?"

He stopped and mentally slapped himself for the rude question when he saw Haku smile.

"Oh! Uh… I mean… Hi there, where'd _you_ come from? You know… what are you doing here… and all that," he asked, a small blush forming on his cheeks as he talked.

"I'm gathering herbs," Haku replied without dropping the smile.

"Herbs?"

"Yeah, that's right. For treating illnesses and healing wounds."

Naruto helped his new companion pick herbs for a while before dropping from a crouch to a sitting position.

"You start work early, huh sis?"

Haku stopped pulling up herbs and grinned on the inside. So the blonde thought he was a girl, hm? Well… he might as well play along.

"I like it early. It's calm, but I didn't think I'd find anyone here sleeping in the woods."

Naruto grinned.

"I'm training!" he informed Haku proudly.

"Hm? Are you a ninja…? Because I noticed that headband you're wearing. Or are you just making a fashion statement?"

Pleased, Naruto blushed again.

"You noticed that? All right! Only super cool ninja can wear these!" he bragged.

"Oh really? I see. That's very impressive, then."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed, drinking in all the attention.

"But…" Haku lowered his head. "Are you training for something dangerous, then?"

"I'm just developing my skills so I can get stronger!"

"You seem very strong now. Isn't that enough?"

"No, no! I need to get stronger and stronger! I have to keep practicing!"

Now Haku frowned in thought and slightly narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"How so? Why is it so important?"

"So I can become the best ninja in my village! And everyone will know who I am, and they'll _all_ respect me!" Naruto winked. "There's also this person in my camp that I have to prove something to!"

"So are you doing this for a certain person? Or are you doing all this training for yourself?"

"Huh?" Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion, causing Haku to laugh.

Embarrassed, Naruto shouted, "What are you laughing about? What's so funny?"

"Is there… someone who's precious to you?"

"What are you saying, sis? What do you mean, 'precious'?"

Haku sat in silence for a while, thinking back to when he was smaller. When he was alone… and his first encounter with Zabuza.

Then, he looked up spoke.

"You see… when a person has something precious that they want to protect, _then_ they become genuinely strong."

Naruto suddenly understood. He thought about Kaiza, and how he saved the village from the flood. He thought about Kakashi, and how he promised he would protect the group with his life. He thought about how Iruka-sensei had tried to protect him when Mizuki-sensei attacked. He thought about how he himself threatened Mizuki for Iruka's sake.

"Yeah, I hear ya! I know _exactly_ what you're saying!" Naruto grinned.

Haku smiled back at him, stood up, and picked up his basket.

"You _will_ get strong," he encouraged. "_Very_ strong."

Naruto laughed sheepishly at the compliment.

Turning around, Haku started walking away.

"Goodbye. We'll meet again sometime. Oh… by the way… I'm a boy."

Naruto's mouth dropped to the ground, his hands on his face in disbelief.

"What? No way! He's even prettier than Sakura!"

Right after he yelled out, Sakura landed right next to him from above, smiling widely.

"Everyone's prettier than me, baka."

Naruto turned to face Sakura and protested, "That's not true!"

In turn, she rolled her eyes and fought back, "Stop trying to fool yourself. Yes it is. Now get up!"

Haku, hearing her voice, stopped in his tracks and turned to face the two—mainly the kunoichi.

Sakura glanced his way before turning around saying, "I have to get back to Kakashi-sensei. I left him in the forest. He's probably wondering where I am," and with that, she jumped up and disappeared.

~x~

**Sorry for the turtle-like update. I'm getting less and less time on the computer… oh listen to my useless complaints! But anyways, sorry again for the last chapter. Hopefully, that will be my worst, or else I'll be toast. **

**See you next time~!**

**- To the reviewers…**

**Grammar Helper- Um… I might be wrong, but Sasuke's sharingan activated on the night of the Uchiha Massacre. It activated when he found Itachi on the streets, right about to leave.**

**Blazing Blossoms- Lol thanks for all the compliments! :)**

**Deathgeonous- I know… weak beginning. I thought so too. I wish I could go back and redo it… and I can, but… a bunch of people have already read it… and it's kind of exciting to write this. The story jumps up and down along with my mood though, so that's a disadvantage.**

**Sakuno101-… Hm… it's kind of hard _not_ to make Sakura a Mary Sue… I don't know… but she kind of already has most of the characteristics of a Mary Sue already… **

**You like my fight scenes? I think I suck at fight scenes… :P**

**The MysteriousRed/Moon Symphony- My account name was actually an accident. My finger slipped when I was trying to type, 'Dragon' and it ended up as 'Daragon'… but it works. :) **

**My imagination is kind of… well, it's strange. :P The umbrella idea just randomly came up. Thanks for reviewing! :D**

**Konnichiha Yoshi-chan- Sakura's most likely going to snap… or maybe not. I don't know… we'll see. :D :) :P**

**WhatChuuKnowBoutMe- Ooo I'm gonna read your story. Is that alright? Oh, and the long chapters… well my hands just won't stop typing until I reach a certain point… like maybe… 6,000 words… :D **

**Myfavoriteloser- Yeah… sorry… I forgot to fix that… thanks for telling me though! If you didn't ask, I would've never noticed. :)**

**Gasanechi- Yeah… sorry… I wonder what was wrong with me that day.**

**Luka1Sakura- I agree! Lol xD**

**Kateshay- Really? There are time travel stories that are crack-ish? Wow… I seriously didn't know that. And your idea is intriguing… I'll probably make them do something like that… hm… thanks for the tip! :)**

**Baby Swan-Azure Orbs16- Thanks! :D**

**Lynne1923- Lol it's good to know that someone is so eager for the next chapter. :P :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope you had a great 4th of July! Anyone see fireworks?**

**And omigod, look how short the chapter is! O.o**

**~x~**

"Whoa, I've seen a lot of weird things in my life before, but this one takes the cake!" Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke wacked him across the head, resulting in Naruto's, "HEY! What did you do _that_ for? Cut it out!"

The Uchiha rose an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Did you just forget about breakfast? You're such a loser!"

Naruto blinked a couple of times and then laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Actually, Sa..."

He paused, unsure.

_-x_

_Panting, Naruto tilted his head upwards to examine the slash marks on the tree made by his kunai._

_"This is taking so long!" he groaned in frustration, slumping forwards._

_The smell of food wafted into his nostrils and he looked back up, eyes wide. Forest green eyes looked back at him, twinkling in amusement._

_"Here's your early breakfast," Sakura smiled, extending the hand holding a bowl full of steaming __**ramen**__._

_Naruto straightened his posture, eager for food._

_"This looks delicious, dattebeyo! Arigato, Sakura-chan!"_

_He reached out for the food, but then it was cruelly pulled away from his grasp._

_"Aww, Sakura-chan!"_

_Sakura stared him down, the food held parallel to her shoulders._

_"You have to promise not to tell __**anyone**__ I was here. It'll embarrass me to no end if people thought I was... __**considerate**__."_

_She spat out the last word as if it was a curse._

_Naruto gave her a strange look but then agreed anyways._

_"Alright! Now can I eat?"_

_The bowl was lowered until it was in his lap._

_"Woohoo! I'm starving!"_

_-x_

"Um... no, I got some fruit from the apple tree nearby."

"Hn. Fine by me."

~x~

"Sensei, admit it. We're. Lost."

"We're not lost, Sakura. I know exactly where we are."

"Right. Sure. Then why have we passed the same tree at least three times already?"

Sakura sighed and switched to a sitting position on the floor, glaring at her teacher.

"We're not going to find Naruto or Sasuke this way, and they haven't found us yet eith- nevermind."

Right after she finished, a kunai embedded itself into the patch of grass in front of the two, and they looked up to see where the sudden attack came from. From atop a rather tall tree came a goofy laugh.

Sakura winked at him with a large grin and a thumbs up.

"I knew you could do it! Yoku dekita ne!" **(Translation: Good job)**

"What do you think?" Naruto joked. "Is it high enough for you guys? I mean, it's a long way down, huh?"

He pushed himself up on the branch into a standing position, and suddenly lost balance. With a yell, he fell backwards off of the tree.

Sakura's heart pounded ferociously behind her rib cage, and beside her, she could see Kakashi tense his muscles, ready to save the falling ninja from his doom.

Yet... instead of falling down and hurting himself, Naruto's feet stuck to the underside of the tree, and he smiled.

"Haha, just kidding!"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Sakura tried to calm her erratically beating heart by taking a few deep breaths.

Naruto laughed, "You guys really fell for it!"

His female friend looked up to glare at him, and she pulled herself up.

"You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

Their sensei had calmed down considerably, but still had that unsure aura around him.

"Why do I think that this is going to end badly?"

As if on cue, Naruto's feet popped off the tree branch and he screamed while falling down, headfirst.

Face palming, Sakura growled, "You just had to push it, Naruto."

A rustling of leaves and the rapid pitter patter of feet could be heard before a hand grabbed Naruto's ankle, and he dangled upside-down awkwardly within his savior's hold.

"You really are a loser, Naruto."

Naruto looked up to see...

"Sasuke!"

Waving a dismissing hand in the air, Sakura turned around to head back.

"Alright, the training is done, now let's go."

Their jounin sensei smiled under his mask and casually noted, "If I'm still sane by the time I've finished their training, it'll be a miracle."

~x~

Inari still sat by the window overlooking the sea with his father's picture in hand, but this time, there were no tears.

"... Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

~x~

A red apple was crushed mercilessly in someone's hand.

"You're recovering quickly," Haku observed.

Zabuza dropped the crushed remains of the apple to the ground and grunted.

"Just a little longer, Haku."

There was a small pause until the boy nodded.

"Yes."

~x~

Tsunami placed the dishes full of food in front of the people at the table... but there were two missing.

"I wonder when those two boys are coming back," Sakura grumbled, rather grumpy at their tardiness.

Just then, the door swung open to reveal a rather messy looking Sasuke supporting an equally messy looking Naruto.

"What have you two been up to? You look like something the cat dragged in," Tazuna observed.

Naruto lifted up his head, his blue eyes shining with accomplishment.

"We both made it," he explained. "All the way to the top!"

"Good," Kakashi nodded in approval. "Now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you're both bodyguards for Tazuna."

Naruto punched a fist in the air and shouted, "All right!"

His legs then refused to support him anymore, and he fell backwards, dragging Sasuke down along with him.

Sasuke yelled from the ground, "You're such a loser!" Making everyone laugh.

~x~

Now everyone was sitting on the table, ready to eat.

Tazuna spoke, breaking the peaceful silence.

"In a few days... the bridge will be finished- we have you to thank for that."

Tsunami added in, "You've all done great, but you've still got to be careful!"

"I've been meaning to ask you this, but I didn't have the chance until now." Tazuna's gaze was searching, his eyes flickering from face to face, searching for a reaction. "Why did you stay and protect me even when you found out I lied to bring you here?"

Kakashi was the one who answered his question.

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Of course Kakashi would say something like that.

Tsunami stopped walking around to stare at Kakashi in confusion.

"Huh?"

"That was a quote from the first hokage," he explained.

Sakura closed her eyes.

"It doesn't matter if you want to be useful to someone, there's no such thing as a life worth throwing away. That's a quote from another famous hokage."

When she opened her eyes, she glanced at Naruto and smiled.

**(A/N Guess which hokage said that quote! ;D)**

The sound of a teardrop hitting a flat surface made her look around for the source of the tears... then her eyes settled on Inari.

"But why?" he choked out.

Naruto rose his head, wondering what the little boy was mumbling.

"What'd you say?"

Inari slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

"All this _stupid _training is just a _waste of time_! Gatou's got a whole army! They'll beat you down and they'll destroy you!" he spat viciously. "These cool things you all say... _they don't mean __**anything**_! No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak _always_ lose!"

"Just speak for yourself. It won't be like that for me, you got that?" Naruto grumbled, resting his head back down on his arms.

"Why don't you be quiet? Just looking at you makes me _sick_! You don't know _anything _about this country, you're just _butting in_! Always _laughing_ and playing around! You don't know what it's like to be treated like _dirt_!" Inari shouted.

Naruto's eyes darkened.

"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim! Look, you can whimper all day for all _I_ care. You're nothing but a _coward_!"

Inari jumped at the last comment. It sliced into him like a read wound.

Sakura put a gentle hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Calm it, Naruto."

He grunted, let her hand slip off his shoulder, and walked out of the room.

Sakura whipped her head around to glare at Inari.

"What do you know about Naruto and the things he'd been through? You know _nothing_ about him, so stop making fake accusations and leave us alone!"

With one last scathing look at the boy, she ran to go comfort Naruto, leaving Inari standing there shaking and crying.

~x~

"So I leave Naruto in your hands. He's pushed his body to the limit- overdoing it as usual- so he may not be able to move today at all," Kakashi informed.

"What about you? _You're_ still recovering yourself!" Tsunami exclaimed.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow.

"What, do I look wobbly? I'll be okay."

Tazuna was walking away already.

"Come on! Let's go!"

Kakashi then noticed that someone was missing from their group.

"Hm? Where's Sakura?"

Sakura then burst through the front doors with Naruto in tow.

"We're here!"

Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Sakura... Naruto's not supposed to be able to move."

The girl shook her head, "I healed him before he went to bed. All he needed was a night's sleep until he got all his energy back."

Naruto grinned at them.

"Yep! I feel brand new!"

Then he pointed his index finger at his sensei and accused, "You were going to leave without me!"

Kakashi held up his hands innocently and sweat dropped.

"Alright, calm down. Let's get a move on."

Team 7- along with Tazuna- walked through the forest towards the bridge when something caught the attention of sharp jade eyes.

Those eyes narrowed at the sight.

Sakura pulled Naruto out of the group and then gestured pointedly at what she saw. Naruto nodded and started running back to the house.

Once sure that Naruto was going the right direction, the Haruno caught up with the group again. Of course, Sasuke immediately noticed that a loudmouth was missing from their group.

"Where's the loser?" he questioned.

The reply was a short, "He'll be back."

This only spurred Sasuke's curiosity, but the look on Sakura's face told him not to push, and he threw his curiosity and questions to the side for the moment.

~x~

Even though she knew what awaited them at the bridge, she still narrowed her eyes at the sight of the beaten bodies strewn all over the bridge. Her medic instincts tried to push her feet towards the people in pain to heal, but her fighting instincts told her to stand and wait until she could locate the points of her enemies first so that she doesn't become one of the many people on the ground.

"Hold on! What the heck is this?" Tazuna exclaimed, taken aback at the sight. "What happened? Someone was here; someone got to them!"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Could it be?" 

A thick mist quickly rolled over the group, alerting Kakashi's senses.

He cranked up his defense while ordering, "Sasuke, Sakura, get ready!"

The two students heightened their defenses as well, and pressed closer to the bridge builder with their weapons ready.

"Zabuza..." Sakura spat.

If she made a single mistake... then it might be all over... but then again, she didn't _do_ much back then except just stand in front of Tazuna, straining her eyes to see through the fog.

_'Should I help in this fight...? Or... should I stand uselessly like before...?'_

Then an idea sparked.

_'Of course! I'll just... secretly help. Small things here and there...'_

Zabuza's voice came out of the mist menacingly just like the first time they fought him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi. I see you still got those _brats_ with you. _That_ one is still trembling. Pitiful."

Sakura nearly laughed when she heard the rattling of Sasuke's kunai, but fought back the amusement and tried to focus on the matter at hand. As in Zabuza clones surrounding the group.

As a response, Sasuke smirked.

"I'm trembling... with excitement," he corrected.

Kakashi turned his head slightly so that he was looking at the back of Sasuke's head.

"He's all yours, Sasuke."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Yes, impress us, Sasu-chan," she snickered quietly.

Luckily, Sasuke didn't hear her comment and jumped up to attack. In a few seconds, all the 7 Zabuzas surrounding the group fell to the ground as harmless water.

Sakura's pupils grew as she stared intensely at the water spilled on the bridge.

_'Not completely harmless.'_

"Oo, so you can see that they were water clones, huh?" Zabuza sneered, stepping forwards. "Brat's improving. Looks like you've got a rival, Haku."

Haku stepped forward as well so that he was standing beside his mentor.

"So it seems."

The tension in the air was growing, and everyone was too preoccupied to notice the water slowly spreading out in all directions.

"Well, well, well. So I had it right. It was all an act," Kakashi observed.

Sakura blinked and loosened her concentration to realize that he was talking about Haku before she started again, listening to the conversation with half an ear.

"An act?" Tazuna rose his eyebrows.

Kakashi mocked, "The cute little mask."

Then, Sasuke said something that was rather out of character.

"Big phony. Ha."

"So all that about being a tracker ninja protecting his village was just a bunch of bull!" the bridge builder yelled.

Kakashi scanned the two rogue ninjas and how they stood by each other.

"They look pretty chummy to me. It seems that they've been pulling scams like that for a long time. And hiding behind a mask! Who does he think he's fooling?"

Sakura pushed some concentration into forming words and grinned, "Speak for yourself, sensei."

"That's it, I'm taking him out," Sasuke growled. "Who does he think he's fooling; hiding behind some mask, like some sort of clown."

"Last time I checked, clowns don't wear masks, they wear makeup," the kunoichi shot at him.

Sasuke turned to retort, but then twitched an eye.

"Sakura... what are you wearing?"

The girl suddenly had her head inside a large egg shell that was broken in half, but still large enough to cover her face and most of her neck. She refused to meet Sasuke's gaze from tiny holes in the egg made for her eyes.

"I'm not wearing anything unusual. It's just... a protection procedure," she grumbled. "Masks aren't so bad."

"That's impressive," Haku murmured in his soft voice.

Zabuza grunted. Was Haku talking about the strange egg shell?

"Even though they were 1/10 the original water clones- he _did_ manage to kill them all."

So he was talking about Sasuke. Made more sense.

"That move still gives us the first advantage. Now _use it_," Zabuza commanded.

"Right."

The boy suddenly disappeared without a sound and reappeared a few feet away, spinning at a ridiculous speed, making a human tornado.

Sakura then realized that the water was slipping out of her control- someone else was trying to use it. Narrowing her eyes behind the egg, she poured more chakra into the water, making it spread faster. The sound of metal hitting against metal caught her attention, and her eyes flickered up to see Sasuke and Haku locked in a battle.

"Sakura, cover Tazuna and stay close to me. Let Sasuke handle this," Kakashi ordered.

Her reply was, "No promises, Kakashi-sensei."

Metal clashed against metal again, the sound a bit like shattering glass.

"We only want the bridge builder, not you. If you surrender, I won't have to kill you," Haku explained.

Sasuke replied, "Same."

"You're making a mistake!" the mist boy pleaded. "You won't be able to keep up with my speed."

Sakura noted that Haku's voice seemed a bit... desperate.

_'His heart is too soft...'_

"I have gained two key advantages," he pointed out.

"Yeah? What are they?" Sasuke challenged.

A very slight pause.

"First, we're surrounded by water. Second, I've blocked one of your hands. Therefore, you only have one free hand to defend yourself."

With that, Haku lifted up his hand in front of his mask in the tiger seal. The tension in the air rose even higher- if that was possible- as that hand started forming hand seals.

"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death."

One of his feet splashed the ground, and the water rose above them. At first, they hung there as shaking blobs, but then formed into senbon needles. Sasuke just stood there with his eyes closed, one hand still pushing on the kunai, the other in the seal of the tiger.

His eyes snapped open just as the needles started to move downwards. They went slowly at first, but then rapidly gained speed. There was a loud splash as the needles hit the ground, and there was actually a cloud of water. Haku jumped back before any of the needles hit him, preparing to see a dead boy laying in the water... but when he looked again, there was nothing, only the unsettled puddle in the middle of the bridge.

Only when Sasuke lifted his kunai did the mist boy notice him up high in the air. 3 shurikens were aimed at Haku, and it took three backward jumps to dodge all of them. Sasuke appeared behind him with a taunting smirk on his face.

"You're not as fast as you think. From this point on..." Sasuke flicked out his weapon. "_You're_ going to be defending against _my_ attacks."

The two jumped back a short distance away from each other before Sasuke threw all his body weight in his free arm to attack Haku. As predicted, he blocked the attack. In the other hand was the Uchiha's kunai, and he used his fingers to fling the weapon at Haku's head. Arms preoccupied, Haku could only duck, and Sasuke used this slight opening to kick him in the face, making him fly back in Zabuza's direction.

Unfortunately, Sasuke's plan wasn't thought out exactly right. The kunai that was used as a decoy embedded itself deeply into Sakura's arm, making her lose concentration on the water.

With a small shrug, she decided that she had enough with the water, but now her chakra reserves were rather low. Sakura yanked out the weapon from her arm, examining her blood for a second, debating whether or not to tell Sasuke that his kunai went rogue and decided to attack the people on his team.

She looked up and watched him bathe in the victory of his battle.

He probably couldn't help but boast.

"Thought you were quicker, huh? Now what else were you wrong about?"

_'Nah... I don't want to ruin his moment.'_

Of course, Kakashi had to stroke their egos a bit further.

"You made a big mistake insulting these ninja and calling them brats; that's just guaranteed to bring out Sasuke's attitude- he's the best young fighter in the hidden leaf village... and our number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja, Naruto Uzumaki isn't someone you should mess with either."

But he wasn't done.

"Last but not least is Sakura here, with the sharpest mind."

Sakura silently cursed.

_'__**Why**__ did you have to mention me, Kakashi?'_

Warily meeting Haku's eyes, she could almost see his eyes narrow under that mask.

She grumbled, "Guess it can't be helped." And took off the shell helmet, throwing it to the side.

Zabuza chuckled, breaking the... heroic moment.

"Haku, if we keep going like this, we'll be the victims instead of them. Get on with it!"

The boy stood back up, and replied, "Right."

Almost immediately, blue strands of chakra flew up in the air.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"What's this? It's so... cold!"

Haku lowered his head and said regretfully, "I'm sorry that it has come to this."

His hands formed a strange seal and the water around them started to freeze and rise, making ice mirrors.

Sakura quickly let a thin, invisible coat of chakra trace the outlines of her body to keep herself warm and watched as the ice mirrors formed.

_'Hopefully Haku won't notice anything wrong with the mirrors...'_

He didn't seem to notice as the mirrors took shape in front of their eyes; he kept going.

Sasuke could only stand and stare as the ice molded, and he finally looked around when they were completely surrounded.

"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

The mirrors all started glowing, reflecting light from every direction.

Kakashi took an uneasy step forward.

"What is that?" he wondered aloud. "How does it work?"

On cue, Haku got behind the closest ice mirror and stepped _into_ it, his form taking shape in the mirror until he was just a 2D reflection.

Sasuke's eyes widened as the other mirrors all reflected Haku from every point and angle so that he wouldn't know which one is which.

Kakashi let out a frustrated growl and started running for the mirror dome, but Zabuza ran in front of him.

"If you enter this fight, you fight _me_. That boy has no chance against that jutsu. He's _finished_."

Sasuke's eyes darted all around, trying to find where the real Haku was, but no use. His voice came from every reflection.

"Now, we shall begin. I will show you what speed _really_ means."

First one senbon was thrown at him, making a cut on his sleeve. Then came another needle from a different direction. Suddenly a whole barrage of needles was thrown at him with no way to dodge because they were thrown from every single direction. Yet another needle knocked the weapon out of his hands, leaving him defenseless against Haku.

Ironically, the kunai that was knocked out of Sasuke's hand landed right by Sakura's foot. She quickly picked it up and threw it dead center on one of the ice mirrors. It lodged itself into the thick ice, cracking the mirror.

The Haku on that mirror merely pushed the kunai out of the hole it made and the ice healed itself. He didn't even bother throwing the weapon back at her!

Sasuke cried out, his hands shielding his head. This position made Sasuke look so weak and vulnerable that Sakura felt guilty for not going to his side and helping. Her hands went together for a seal, but she forced them back to her sides.

_'This is his fight,'_ she reminded herself. _'Naruto's going to save the day and they'll both be alive afterwards. Just because it looks painful right now... doesn't mean they're going to die. Hopefully.'_

**~x~**

**I am ashamed that I made such a short chapter... but... I was sick and wasn't allowed to even leave my room in fear that someone else might catch my disease. Sitting there with strep throat is **_**not fun.**_** I'm sorry... but I have stuff to do too. And... this was all typed in one day because I have to leave again to go to a wedding. T.T**

**Anyways, see you later.**

**-To the reviewers...**

**Jensniffer: Thank you! *Peace sign***

**AngelicSnow: OMG! I love your username! Whew... ok... now that I've gotten that out... ok... so sorry about that Inari thing. It's just that I was wondering if some people just kind of... like... forgot. Because I did. The whole Inari story was rather hazy to me. :P And actually... it doesn't show you until like... episode 135-142, but Sasuke was chasing after Itachi on the day of the massacre and then he activated the 1st level of sharingan. Itachi was proud for like... 2 seconds but then he had to leave the village, and Sasuke passes out, waking up in the hospital. He doesn't activate it until the Bridge scene fight with Zabuza and Haku because he didn't know that he had it since he was... well, practically unconcious when he first got it. :P**

**And thanks! I did that with some other fanfics too. xD Just can't stop reading until the end. :)**

**Sakuno101: Yea I know... 'cause she's all wise and talented. ;) **

**ILuvKellanForever: Thank you! I try to keep Sakura in character... she's rather sarcastic now, but she's still that energetic little bubble we know and love!**

**Dreamlessnights: Yeah, the Sakura to Haku conversation... I just felt like I had to add it in. xD He **_**is**_** really feminine, isn't he? Even his **_**voice**__... _**no offense to Haku though. xP**

**Luka1Sakura: Yeah, I did too. Sorry. :P**

**Baby swan-azure orbs16: She's a whole lot less show offy, that's for sure. xD And it **_**is**_** sad that Haku and Zabuza die... the scene is so... heartbreaking!**

**Kiyosaisei Ichimaru: Yes... the eternal sharingan in Sakura's eyes... it's rather strange now that you mention it. And Sakura would do **_**anything**_** for Naruto to keep his title. Even if she has to become a rogue ninja so that he would become hokage. xP**

**Mid KnightKarina: Bwahahaha... stab the perverted jounin... :D And for the chuunin exams... well I was considering no curse seal for Sasuke Uchiha, but for some reason I can't imagine him beating Itachi and learning the truth **_**without**_** it. I mean, maybe he could have the curse seal, but not go to Orochimaru? But yes, your review helped. xD Thanks for reviewing!**

**Chihiro Cullen: Lolololololololol! xD Thanks! Don't fall off your seat. xP**

**WhatChuuKnowBoutMe: Lol I get excited too xDDD**

**Konnichiha Yoshi-chan: When she snaps, she's probably going to beat up Kakashi. xDDDD **_**That's**_** going to be fun to type... *Evil smile***

**SasoLOVE111: Hahaha I know, right? I would be too if some random person knew so much about me. Haku was completely freaked. :D**


	10. Chapter 10  The End

After a few years, I'm back. Ok, if you want to take the risk, you can read my... narrations? They... I wrote them... at a young age... when I loved Mary Sues... and I was just dying to put them on the internet. I'm sorry you had to see them... they... I want to trash them. Like... REALLY BADLY. They're too... they've gotten to far to be fixed.

I've been avoiding this account for a loonnggg time 'cuz I read the chapters over and over... and I realized that I couldn't make them acceptable without changing the whole PLOT. Which means it would be a whole different story...

I've been worrying about this story and putting it off for a year or so now. Can I just... delete it?

Yes, I give up. Sorry Mary Sue Sakura.

I was one desperate child.

I mean, I DID try to look for Beta Readers. Like, deseperately looking for one that met my needs. But... after a week, I gave up.

'Cuz the only ones that DID meet my needs were... inactive...

... ... ...

Um... please go read something acceptable. And addictive. Every time I get an Author Alert in my e-mail, I feel guilty.

So this story will stop here. 'Cuz... I'm frustrated to no end with it and... the beginning chapters are so...

Barf worthy.

So... say goodbye to "Take Me Back".

'Kay. Go read, "As Simple as Black and White, right?" by xokatherine229 instead. Instead of a noobie's weirdo fantasies.

~s~

And thus, Sakura was rammed with a katana through the heart.

Since she's not a god, she didn't get back up.

Since there was gravity, she instead was met with the ground.

Any cries of her name weren't heard.

Any tears shed wasn't known by her.

Her soul was floating somewhere.

The indestructable Sakura... was finally dead.

The End.


	11. Notice

**Notice: This fanfiction has been adopted by princessoftheshadowsofdestin y. Everyone support her and cheer her on~**

**Her page: u/4262536/**

**Adopted Fanfiction: s/8587864/1/Back-to-the-Beginning-of-it-All**


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